


Still Learning

by tiffaniesblews



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - High School, Coffee Shop, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, also Sokka is v good at math, barnes and noble, but really he is just a massive nerd, non bending au, zuko looks cool on the outside
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:15:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 40,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24957460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tiffaniesblews/pseuds/tiffaniesblews
Summary: Katara works at her local Barnes & Noble as a barista in Starbucks. As a junior in high school, she's pretty busy: the job, student government, peer leadership, AP classes, and, of course, a social life. She tends to stick just with her childhood friends that she's known forever, but she's known around the school (Ba Sing Se High) as always being part of something. Her Gran Gran says she never finds time for herself, but Katara says she would rather always be busy. When a boy from her high school comes to Starbucks one day, Katara finds herself strangely drawn to him. The two form an unlikely friendship.
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar)
Comments: 258
Kudos: 228





	1. finally // beautiful stranger

**Author's Note:**

> So, I am halfway through a DIFFERENT Zutara fic when I got the idea for this one. We'll see where this one leads us. Feedback and suggestions always welcome!
> 
> The title of this work comes from Halsey's song "Still Learning" from her more recent album Manic. Subsequent chapter titles will come from different Halsey songs.

Katara was bored.

She leaned against the counter at her local Barnes and Noble’s Starbucks, staring at the clock on the wall. It was only 4:30 and she got off at 6. Not what she wanted to be doing on a Thursday afternoon.

Sighing, she pushed herself off the counter and began pacing behind the counter.

“Girl, if you pace any more, _I_ just might go crazy,” said her coworker, Yue, watching her walk back and forth. 

Katara bit the nail on her thumb. “I know that.”

“Then stop pacing,” teased Yue. “Looks like we got someone, you’re up.”

Katara shot Yue a disgruntled look and made her way to the register. Standing behind the counter, squinting at the menu, was a boy around her age wearing a button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He had a backpack slung over his shoulder, and a textbook in his hand. Katara couldn’t help notice the scar that covered the left side of his face. She recognized him from school, but if he recognized her, he made no inclination.

“Can I help you?” asked Katara, putting on her best customer service voice.

“Uh, yeah,” said the boy, finally looking at Katara, “could I just have a grande black tea please?”

Katara rang in the tea. “Anything else?”

The boy shook his head.

“Okay, that will be $2.65,” she replied, ringing in the order. He handed her a $5 bill, which she put in the register. He placed the change in the tip jar.

“Thanks,” he mumbled and he made his way to a table while he waited for his tea. 

Yue made the tea and placed it on the counter, yelling, “One grande black tea!”

The boy got up and grabbed his tea and sat back down. Katara watched him as he dug around in his backpack and pulled out a notebook. He got to work, drinking his tea every once in a while. 

“Now _that,_ is one hot guy,” whispered Yue, sneaking up on Katara. 

Katara rolled her eyes. “Come on, Yue, you can’t say that about a customer.”

Yue shrugged and got back to work. Katara glanced back at the boy. She had to agree with Yue: he was pretty cute. Yue went to an all girl’s school a few towns over, so any chance she got to interact with a cute guy was one Yue usually took. She even dated Katara’s brother, Sokka, for a bit, but Yue ended it. Following Yue’s lead, Katara got back to work. She took customers when they came, washed the counters, and organized the display. 

“Katara, do you mind just wiping down the tables before you leave?” her manager asked. 

She nodded and grabbed the spray bottle and a clean rag from the back room. Slowly, she made her way around the sitting area. The only table that was taken was the one with the boy from earlier, who was still working. She was finally at the table next to him, debating on saying something when he looked up at her.

“You’re Sokka’s little sister, right?” he asked her. She was taken aback.

“Y-yeah, I am,” she replied. “How do you know?”

The boy shrugged. “You guys look alike. He’s in a few of my classes.”

“Ah,” she exclaimed, “that really clears things up.”

He smirked. “I’m Zuko, by the way.”

“Katara.”

“It was nice to officially meet you,” he told her. Then he turned his attention back to his textbook. 

“You too,” she mumbled. She walked away, depositing the cleaning supplies in the back room. 

Yue walked up behind, a grin on her face. “Girl, I saw you talking to him. _Spill._ ”

“He knows Sokka through classes. His name is Zuko,” Katara replied, shrugging. 

“That’s _it_?” Yue pouted. “Nothing else?”

“Yue, what else do you want?” Katara snapped. “Just because a cute stranger walks in doesn’t mean anything is going to happen.”

“Aha! So you admit it,” said Yue triumphantly, “you think he’s cute!”

“ _That’s_ what you got from that?” 

Yue smirked. “Come on, we still have work to do.”

Katara followed Yue to the front, noticing the boy, Zuko, packing up his backpack. Before he left, he went to the counter.

“It was nice to meet you Katara. See you around,” he said to Katara who was mopping the floor.

”Yeah, see you around,” she replied 

He waved and walked out of the Starbucks and back into Barnes and Noble. Katara stared after him. 

“What was that?” she asked Yue who was cleaning the machines before the next shift came in. 

Yue watched after Zuko as well. “A boy who’s into you?”

Katara scoffed and continued mopping. At 6:00, her replacement came in and she clocked out. She waved at Yue who still had another hour of her shift to go, and walked out. She undid her apron and rummaged through her bag for her keys and her phone. Getting into the car, she plugged her phone into the phone jack and opened up Spotify. The soft guitars of Halsey’s _Finally // Beautiful Stranger_ began to fill the car. Katara raised the volume and began her drive home. She sang along to the song, beating her fingers against the steering wheel. 

Fifteen minutes later, Katara pulled up to her house, parking as close to the curb as she could. She grabbed her stuff and got out. 

“I’m home,” she yelled, throwing her bag on the ground. She went into the kitchen where Gran Gran was heating up leftovers. She gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Hi, Gran Gran. What’s this?”

“Hello, my darling,” replied Gran Gran, “shepherd's pie for dinner. I hope it’s okay it’s not as fresh.”

Katara took the now warm plate from Gran Gran and went to the kitchen table to eat. “This is great, Gran Gran, thank you.” 

“You’re welcome,” she said, kissing the top of Katara’s head. “How was work?”

Katara shrugged as she ate. “Work.” 

Gran Gran chuckled. “Work, huh? Okay, well, I’ll be in the next room. Make sure you do clean your plate before homework.”

Katara nodded as Gran Gran shuffled into the small living room. She ate quickly and washed the dish, placing it in the drying rack along with the others. She made her way to her bedroom, passing Sokka’s on the way there.

“Hey, Sokka,” said Katara, popping her head into her brother’s room. “I’ve got a question for you.” 

Sokka spun around in his desk chair to face her. She saw his computer open to his AP Physics GoogleClassroom. “I got a big test tomorrow, but what’s up?”

“Uh, do you know a Zuko?”

“Hmm,” replied Sokka, thoughtfully. He leaned back in his chair, stroking his chin. “Lanky, black shaggy hair, with a scar on his face?”

Katara winced. “Yeah, that’s him.”

“Yep, I know him. He’s in my AP Physics class and my Calc class. He’s, like, wicked smart. Why?”

“Oh, he just came into the store today, that’s all. He said he knew you.” 

“Huh, yeah we know each other. I mean, we’re friendly, but we’re not uber close, you know?” Sokka shrugged and turned back around, opening up a study guide. “Now go away, I need to study.”

Katara stuck her tongue out at Sokka’s head and made her way to her room. He heard Sokka in his room talking, meaning he FaceTimed his girlfriend, Suki, as soon as she left. 

Sighing, she pulled out her own homework and got to work, trying not to think of Zuko and their weird interaction. 


	2. clementine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara learns a little more about Zuko at lunch. From what Sokka and Suki told her, he's a bit of a loner and he's the older brother of the meanest girl in the school. Typical.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The is definitely a chapter that describes Katara and her home life if anything. If you have any ideas for a Zuko and Katara interaction, please drop it here!

The next day, Katara sat at her usual lunch table with her brother, his girlfriend Suki, and their two friends Toph and Aang. Katara was working on a DBQ she was assigned in AP US History earlier that day while eating her salad. Aang was next to her, struggling with his geometry homework.

“Man, this is the  _ worst, _ ” Aang moaned, pushing his textbook away from him. “I’m never going to pass and Mr. Gyatso gives the hardest midterm.” 

“That’s what happens when you wait until last minute, Twinkle Toes,” said Toph, picking at her teeth. “Maybe come with me after school and see if Mr. Gyatso will let you take the exam orally with me.”

Aang sighed. “He won’t do that, Toph, but thanks. Apparently I have ‘a lot of potential’, whatever that means.”

“Bring it here, little buddy,” said Sokka, removing his arm from around Suki’s shoulder and pulling Aang’s textbook closer to him. “I got you.”

Katara listened to the two boys discuss geometry, Sokka showing Aang tips to help him figure out the problems. While Sokka’s weakness lied in reading comprehension and analysis, his strength lay in problem solving, which is why he was in higher math and science classes than the rest of the crew. She pushed her empty tupperware container to the side and brought her Chromebook closer to her to type her outline. This week’s DBQ seemed easy enough, she just needed to find the motivation to actually write it. Looking up at just the right time, she saw Zuko walk into the cafeteria, the same bag from last night swung over his shoulder. He made eye contact with Katara, and gave her a small wave. She waved back before focusing on her DBQ once again.

“Uh, what was that?” Suki interrupted. 

Katara looked at her. “What?”

“What do you mean ‘what’!” exclaimed Suki. “Why are you waving to Zuko Comet?”

“Who?” asked Toph, leaning on her hands, trying to listen in on the conversation.

“Zuko, he’s a senior like Sokka and me,” replied Suki. “How do you know him?”

“He came into Starbucks yesterday to do some homework,” Katara explained. “He recognized me as Sokka’s sister and introduced himself. And wait a minute,  _ Comet?  _ Like… Azula Comet?”

Suki nodded. “Yeah, he’s her older brother.”

Azula was in Katara’s grade and she never would have guessed Zuko was her brother. Azula was calculating and somewhat cruel. According to Suki, who was on the field hockey team with Azula, Azula never backed down from a fight, earning her multiple penalties against her. 

“What’s Zuko like?” asked Aang, looking up from the problem Sokka left him to figure out. 

“He’s not bad,” replied Sokka, yawning. “Like I told Katara last night, wicked smart. He’s in all AP and honors classes. He’s pretty close to valedictorian.”

  
“He’s just quiet,” claimed Suki, moving closer to Sokka, who then put his arm back around her. “He doesn’t really talk in our AP Lit class, but when he does his analysis is always spot on. So Ms. Kyoshi says at least.”

“Somewhat of a loner,” agreed Sokka. “I mean, I have the guy’s number because we worked on a project together in AP Bio that one time, but besides that? I don’t know.”

Katara watched as Zuko made his way across the cafeteria, placing the tray of food he got on a table to sit by himself. How can a guy like him be related to someone like Azula?

“How did he get that scar,” Aang asked, glaring at Zuko now. Being inconspicuous was not Aang’s strong suit. 

“Scar?” asked Toph. 

“Yeah, he’s got a big red scar across his eye,” replied Aang. “Wonder how that happened.”

“Well, that’s not polite to ask,” said Katara, now going back to her DBQ. They only had 5 more minutes of lunch, and she didn’t feel like wasting it on talking about Zuko. 

When the bell rang, the gang said their goodbyes and made their way to their respective classes: Sokka to calculus, Suki to French, Toph and Aang to chemistry, and Katara to AP Lang. 

The rest of the school day dragged on and Katara was grateful she didn’t have student government to go today. The past week, the junior class was talking about themes for this year’s junior prom. If she had to hear one more “What about night in Paris!”, she might just rip her hair out. Luckily, she also had the day off from work, so this weekend was reserved for her and her friends. 

She rushed to the parking lot where Sokka was waiting for her in their car. Scrolling through her phone, she didn’t realize someone was in front of her until she walked right into them.

“Oh, oh I’m so sorry,” stuttered Katara. She looked up and realized she walked right into Zuko. “Oh, uh, hey.” 

“Hey yourself,” he replied, smiling down at her. “And don’t worry about it.” 

They stood there awkwardly, both unsure of what to say. 

“You, uh, working tonight?” Zuko finally asked her.

Katara blinked. “Oh. No, today is my day off.”

“Ah.”

“Do you… go there often?” Katara slapped herself mentally.  _ This isn’t a cheesy romance movie.  _

“Not usually,” he replied. “My uncle owns a tea shop in town, but he had to close shop for a bit for some construction. Don’t tell him I was at Starbucks though, he would never forgive me for buying their ‘fake overpriced tea’. The nerve!” 

Katara started to laugh. Cute and funny; she’d have to tell Yue.

A car honked their horn, and Sokka pulled up besides Katara. “Hey, you ready to go or what?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m ready,” Katara replied. “Well, see you around Zuko.”

“See you around, Katara,” he said, waving as she got in the car. Sokka gave a nod to Zuko who nodded back. 

As they pulled out of the parking lot, Sokka turned his music up; Panic! At the Disco’s  _ LA Devotee  _ blasted through the speakers. 

“What did Zuko want?” Sokka yelled over the music. 

“Nothing,” Katara yelled back, “I ran into him in the parking lot and we just started talking.” 

“Hmm,” replied Sokka, focusing on the road. 

Katara looked out the window, watching the buildings pass by. Two days in a row she interacted with Zuko. She had really only seen him around school, and like the others said, he usually kept to himself that she barely noticed him. It was his sister Azula she knew more about. The song changed, Halsey’s  _ clementine  _ a vast difference from the previous song; Katara leaned over and put it louder. Sokka smirked. Katara stuck her tongue out. They continued their drive in silence with the occasional humming along to a song that would come up on Sokka’s playlist. 

Back at home, Katara went to her bedroom, taking out her Chromebook and her textbooks. She looked over her list of homework for the weekend: DBQ due Wednesday, some lines from  _ Beowulf  _ and a reaction paper due Tuesday, fifteen problems for precalculus, and a Spanish oral exam on Monday. Sighing, Katara opened her math book and got to work. 

At 5:00, Gran Gran called out: “Kids! Dinner!” 

Katara shoved her books aside, glad for the break. She and Sokka raced to the kitchen, pretend wrestling as they did. 

“Okay you two wolves,” said Gran Gran placing today’s lasagna on the table, “sit down and eat before it gets cold. Don’t hurt yourselves.” 

The two sat down and helped themselves. The three passed the drinks and napkins around. Dad wasn’t home yet; he wouldn’t be for another week. Hakoda, Katara and Sokka’s dad, was a truck driver and he often had long trips to make. 

“How was school?” asked Gran Gran. “Sokka, you had a test today, how was it?” 

Sokka gulped down the large chunk of lasagna he cut off. “It went fine, I think. There was only one problem that stumped me. I also had a pop quiz in English today. It’s a good thing I read last night’s chapter in the cafe this morning.”

Katara rolled her eyes as Gran Gran chuckled. “And you, Katara?”

“Fine,” Katara replied, “just glad we didn’t have student government today, I have a ton of homework.” 

Gran Gran  _ tsked  _ as she poured herself more water. “You’re wearing yourself too thin, Katara. When do you have work next?”

“Not until Sunday,” Katara exclaimed. She knew what Gran Gran was thinking: Katara worked too much. She couldn’t help it; ever since her mom’s death back when she was a kid, Katara found herself throwing herself into different activities to distract herself. If she was constantly busy, she didn’t have to think. She reminded herself of her favorite character from ‘Parks and Recreation’, Leslie Knope. 

The three finished dinner and Sokka and Katara were left to clean up, which they did without complaint. They also cleaned without having a water fight, which Gran Gran was happy about since the last time that happened, the kitchen was completely soaked. As they finished up, Sokka pulled out his phone and opened a message.

“Movie night at Suki’s?” he asked her. “Toph and Aang are invited too.”

Katara thought of the pile of homework she had to finish. She finished her precalculus homework and read the line of  _ Beowulf,  _ starting the paper as she read. She had a few more days for the DBQ and spanish she can always practice Sunday.

“I’m in.” she replied. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also going to take this moment to plug my other Zutara fic "I've Got a Dark Alley" that's a college au. :)


	3. strangers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko stops into Starbucks once again and Katara learns a bit more about his past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm reading all of your comments and I appreciate them all a ton! Thank you for reading!

Katara thought Sunday came way too quickly. Before she knew it, she was back in her Starbucks uniform and behind the counter anxiously counting down the hours until she could go home. Luckily, it was an early morning shift, so she was in at 7:30 and out by noon. Unluckily, Yue was sick and had to call out, so she was stuck with Haru, a nice boy who was in Sokka’s grade at school. 

The two worked quietly, only serving older people who came shopping early in the morning. The occasional college student came in, desperate for a coffee with too many espresso shots. Sometimes a Barnes and Noble cashier would make their way over for break, sitting at one of the tables eating and reading their latest pick. 

“So, Katara,” said Haru, leaning up against the counter where Katara was cleaning the machine, “how was your weekend?”

Katara shrugged. “Not bad, I guess. Boring really. You?”

“Oh, same, same,” replied Haru. “Hey, uh, you busy this upcoming weekend?” 

“Why?” asked Katara, pausing her cleaning and looking at Haru.

“Well, I was wondering -”

“Excuse me?” came a raspy voice at the register. Katara turned around to find Zuko standing there, this time without his backpack.

“Zuko!” exclaimed Katara, putting down the rag and heading toward the register. “What can I do for you?”

“Hey, Katara. Just a grande black tea, if you can?”

“You got it,” replied Katara, taking the money Zuko held out to her and putting it in the register. Like last time, Zuko put the change in the tip jar. “Haru, can you make the tea?”

Haru grumbled, but set to work. Katara turned back to Zuko. 

“How was your weekend so far?” she asked him, leaning up against the counter. 

Zuko shrugged. “Not too bad really. Had to help my Uncle with some construction at the shop yesterday, but that’s it really. Thought I’d get some tea again today before I head over to see my mom.” 

“Oh, is your mom at work?” Katara asked. Zuko looked down, unable to meet her eyes.

“Uh, well, you see,” Zuko stuttered. “No, she doesn’t work.”

Katara was confused. “Okay.”

“She actually passed away a few years ago. I was ten,” he said, finally looking up at her. 

_ Shit.  _ Katara felt awful. “I’m so sorry, Zuko, I didn’t know!”

He waved at hand. “No, it’s not your fault. I mean, there was no context there. I visit her grave site every few Sundays.”

“Well, still, I’m sorry,” she said, her face still burning. Zuko smiled at her, and she felt herself turn redder. 

“One grande black tea,” interrupted Haru, aggressively placing the cup on the counter. “Have a good day.” 

“Thanks. Nice to see you, Katara. You too, Haru.”

Katara watched him leave, still thinking about what he told her. She understood the awkward feeling of explaining why your mom is never home. When she first met Aang back in elementary school, he asked her why he never met her mom and she had to somehow explain how her mom was no longer alive.

“You didn’t need to be so rude,” Katara scoffed at Haru. 

It was Haru’s turn to scoff. “Yeah, well, he interrupted us.”

“He was a paying customer,” she said, rolling her eyes. 

“Whatever,” Haru spat out. “He’s bad news anyways.”

Katara froze. “Bad news?” 

“I mean, his family that is,” replied Haru, grabbing another rag to go and clean the tables. 

She watched him as he made his way around the counter and began his rounds around the seating area. Katara knew what Azula was like, but she didn’t know about the rest of his family. Zuko and Azula must have been private school kids up until high school, because Katara didn’t meet Azula until freshman year Spanish. Still, what Haru said wouldn’t leave her thoughts, distracting her until her shift was finally over. 

Katara didn’t have the car today so she had to wait for Sokka to pick her up. Sitting on a bench out front, she opened Instagram and searched: Zuko Comet. He was the only one listed, but he was a private account. Staring at her screen, Katara clicked “Follow” and locked her phone as a message stating her request was sent appeared. Sokka pulled in into the parking lot, and Katara saw Suki in the passenger seat. 

Sokka rolled down the driver’s window. “Get in loser, we’re going shopping.”

Katara rolled her eyes and jumped into the backseat, greeting Suki as she did. Sokka turned the music back up, the Jonas Brothers’  _ Only Human  _ reverberated against the car windows. 

“How am I dating a guy who quotes ‘Mean Girls’ and listens to the Jonas Brothers?” Suki asked, looking at Sokka and shaking her head.

“Hey, this song is a  _ bop _ ,” replied Sokka. “Don’t hate.” 

He then proceeded to sing the whole song at the top of his lungs, causing Suki to fall into a fit of laughter. Katara smiled as she watched her brother and Suki; they were a cute couple and she was happy Sokka found Suki. When the song ended, Sokka glanced at Katara in the rearview mirror and turned the music down.

“Hey, you okay, sis?” he asked her. “You’re quiet.”

“Fine,” Katara stated. “Long morning, that’s all.”

Suki turned around to look at her. “Want to talk about it?”

“Just something Haru said,” replied Katara, “it’s nothing.”

“Ugh, Haru!” scoffed Sokka. “Did he ask you out? I told him you’d never go for it.”

“Wait, what?” asked Katara. So  _ that’s  _ why Haru was so mad Zuko interrupted them. “Ask me out?”

“Ha! Okay, too chicken,” said Sokka, hitting the steering wheel. Suki gave his shoulder a light tap. 

“Well, he tried to, but he got interrupted.”

“Let me guess,” said Suki, “it was a boy who goes to our school, he’s a senior, he has a scar on his face, and his name is Zuko?”

Sokka snickered as he put on the turn signal. 

Katara blushed. “Yes, actually, it was. He was stopping in to get tea before visiting his mom’s grave.”

“Oh yeah,” said Suki, “yeah, he mentioned he lost his mom a few years ago. I think she was mugged.”

Katara’s heart skipped a beat. “M-mugged?”

“Yeah,” said Suki, glancing back at Katara again. “We had to write a narrative for AP Lang last year and he wrote about finding out about his mom. It was… emotional.” 

“Well shit,” Sokka replied, “of course it was. That’s terrible.”

“Want to know what’s worse? I brought it up to my mom after school, because like, that shit is traumatic, and she said she remembered seeing that in the paper. Apparently it was ‘suspicious circumstances’.” 

“What does that mean?” Katara asked, leaning forward.

“It means the police think she was targeted,” explained Suki. “It was just too calculated.” 

“Well now I see why the guy is so damn quiet all the time,” Sokka said, shaking his head. “Guess it also explains Azula.” 

Katara thought cancer was bad. Still, she pressed on. “There’s something else. Haru mentioned the family was bad news. I mean, he was bitter he was interrupted, but I feel like he was telling the truth.”

“As for that, I can’t say.  _ Azula  _ might be bad news, but I have no idea about the rest of the guy’s family,” claimed Suki. 

Katara felt her phone vibrating in her bag. Taking it out, she saw she had a notification from Instagram: “zuko_comet wants to follow you”. Her heart caught in her throat; she quickly accepted the request and went to Zuko’s page to see if he accepted hers. He did. Unlike Katara, he didn’t have many posts. There were a couple of himself and an older man and some of him and a girl Katara knew. Her name was Mai and she was in some of Katara’s classes. She didn’t realize Mai and Zuko were dating. An orange outline lit up Zuko’s avatar, meaning he posted a story. Opening it, it was a picture of a head stone. The caption read, “Miss you more everyday, Mom.” Katara felt a tug at her heartstrings. 

“I lied about shopping, by the way,” Sokka said, interrupting Katara’s thoughts. She looked up and noticed they were home. “I just wanted to quote ‘Mean Girls’.”


	4. don't play

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara is wearing herself thin: midterms, student government, work. Not to mention Zuko suddenly appearing and wanting to hang out with her. What is going on?

Ba Sing Se High was bustling all week. With midterms coming up, students were stressed out and ready to be done with school. Katara tried to calm her testing anxiety by taking a copious amount of notes and studying during lunch. The others tried their best to make sure she didn’t over work herself, but she powered through as though nothing was wrong. Student government started up again, and as junior class secretary, Katara had to attend every meeting after school before heading to work. 

Gran Gran tried to tell her to cut down some hours at work, but Katara refused. They needed the extra money, and Sokka couldn’t work because of hockey practices and games. Sokka was still sore about the fact that he couldn’t help out, but colleges were looking at him for hockey, and it was not an opportunity that could be passed up. 

“Katara, please,” her dad said over the phone one night, “we can make do with you having less hours, I promise.” 

Still, Katara continued juggling her multiple different activities. Thursday afternoon, during her study block, Katara found her favorite place in the library and settled down. She took out her Chromebook and got to work on her AP Lang assignment that was due tomorrow. She worked for twenty minutes straight before she noticed out of the corner of her eye that someone had approached her. It was Zuko.

“Oh, hi, Zuko,” she said. “What are you stalking me now?”

“Oh, uh, no I’m not,” he replied, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. “I just, you know saw you here and thought I’d say hi.”

Katara smiled up at him. “Zuko, it’s a  _ joke.  _ No worries. Take a seat.”

“Oh, okay, yeah, I’ll sit,” Zuko said, sitting in the chair across from Katara. He didn’t seem as confident as he did the first night they met. 

“Do you have this study block too?” she asked him, moving her Chromebook to the side. 

“Yeah, I do actually, but I usually spend it in Dr. Roku’s room since he has this block off too,” he explained. “Dr. Roku is cool.” 

“So what made you come here?”

“I dunno.” He shrugged. “Felt like a change of scenery, I guess. Oh, that and Dr. Roku kicked me out because he was printing out his midterm and didn’t want me to look.” 

“Hm, seems like a good enough reason,” she joked. “I usually just come here. This table is never taken because it’s tucked away.”

“Yeah, I barely saw you. I mean, I wasn’t  _ looking  _ for you, I was just walking the shelves and happened to see you. I’m going to shut up now.” 

Katara started laughing. She had to admit, Zuko’s awkwardness was charming. 

“What are you working on?” he asked her, motioning with his chin towards her Chromebook. 

“Oh, I need to analyze  _ Beowulf, _ ” she replied. 

“Man, I loved  _ Beowulf.  _ I think it was one of my favorites.” 

“Yeah?” 

Zuko nodded. “Definitely.” 

“Think you can help a girl out?” she asked him, pushing her open book to Zuko for him to read. He smiled and took the book from her. 

Katara listened as Zuko explained the lines she had to read, analyzing each one by one. Katara took notes as he talked. Sokka was right: Zuko was very smart. They continued working until the bell rang and they had to pack up their stuff. 

“Thanks, Zuko!” Katara said as they walked out of the library. “I was honestly so stuck.”

“No problem at all,” he replied. “I have to head to physics now. I’ll say hi to your brother for you.”

“Oh, please do,” she said. He waved goodbye and went the opposite way.

Katara made her way down the hall to her Spanish class. She called an “Hola” to her teacher and sat down at her desk in the middle of the room. Glancing over, she noticed Azula’s seat was empty. 

_ That’s weird,  _ Katara thought to herself,  _ But Zuko is at school today.  _

Azula’s two friends, Ty Lee, an over excited and bubbly girl, and Mai, the complete opposite of Ty Lee, were sitting at their usual desks chatting. 

Katara shrugged.  _ Maybe she’s just sick. _

She turned her attention to the class, taking out her Chromebook and opening up a GoogleDoc to take notes. Her teacher posted a study guide for the midterm that she wanted the students to fill out for homework. Her classmates groaned around her as she took out her planner to add the study guide to her list of assignments. 

As the teacher continued reviewing, Katara could hear Ty Lee and Mai snickering in front of her. No one sitting around them said anything; even though Azula wasn’t there to say anything, the students still feared her. She watched as they passed a note back and forth between them, shooting each other looks whenever one wrote something questionable. She wished they would just stop. 

When the bell finally rang, Katara got up and shoved her Chromebook back into her backpack. As she went to make her way to the door, she found herself cornered by Mai and Ty Lee.

“Uh, hi?” she asked, looking back and forth between the two. “Can I help you?”

“Well! We do have  _ one  _ question,” replied Ty Lee happily. “But Mai wanted to ask.”

“What are you doing talking to Zuko?” Mai snapped, closing in on Katara. 

Katara backed up, not really sure what to say. “We’re just, uh, acquaintances? I barely know him.” 

Mai rolled her eyes. “Oh come on. How clueless are you?”

“Apparently pretty clueless,” Katara deadpanned. “Now will you two let me by so I can get to class?”

With that, she shoved the two girls out of the way. As she walked away, she heard Ty Lee loudly whisper to Mai, “You think Zuko broke up with you for  _ her _ ?”

Katara kept walking, pretending she didn’t hear anything. 

She only had two more classes left and was more than relieved when she sat down for student government. Prom planning, once again. She took careful notes on a document before sharing it with the rest of the junior class officers. 

As she headed to her locker, she was approached by Jin, the junior class vice president. “So Katara, you inviting Aang to prom?

“Aang?” Katara asked, opening her locker and grabbing textbooks, shoving them into her backpack. 

“Well, you guys are like best friends. You can still bring him even though he’s a sophomore, silly,” Jin teased, leaning up against a locker.

“I mean, I know I can,” Katara replied. To tell the truth, Katara really didn’t feel like attending prom. Her friends were all in different grades, and it didn’t feel right not having everyone there. Sure, she’d help plan for it, but if she didn’t have to attend, then she was okay. 

“You  _ are  _ planning on coming, right?” Jin asked, her eyes going wide. “Because you totally have to, you can’t  _ not  _ go to prom.” 

Katara slammed her locker shut, hoisting her backpack over her shoulder. “I don’t know, Jin, okay? It’s months away.”

Jin nodded, as if understanding. “Right, right, totally. I mean, you need to ask Aang soon though. Make sure you buy a dress and color coordinate and all that.” 

“Great, thanks for the advice, Jin.” Katara’s phone started to ring, and she walked away from Jin, answering the phone. “Hello?”

“Hello, Katara.” It was her manager. “Just wanted to let you know we don’t need you today.”

“Oh, okay,” Katara replied, confused. “How come?”

“Would you believe it, I overstaffed,” her manager said. “I also remembered you mentioning studying for midterms, so I decided to give you a nice break.”

“Oh, well, thank you I guess.” 

“No problem,” he replied warmly. “Actually, how about you take all of next week off?”

“Oh, that’s not - “

“I’m not taking no for an answer,” he interrupted. “Katara, I know how much you’re wearing yourself out. You’re becoming distracted. I’ll text you your schedule for two weeks from now. Deal?” 

Katara sighed. “Yeah, okay. Thank you.”

“Good girl! Talk soon, and good luck with midterms!”

He hung up and Katara stared at her phone. Fuming, she made her way to the parking lot where Sokka and the gang were waiting for her by the car. Looks like Suki, Toph, and Aang were coming over. She stomped over and snatched the keys out of her brother’s hand. 

“I’m driving,” she stated, already opening the driver’s side door.

The others glanced at each other but didn’t say anything. Sokka took the passenger seat while the other three piled into the back. Katara plugged in her phone and opened up Spotify, playing the angriest song she could find before finally peeling out of the parking lot. No one said anything to each other the whole ride to Katara and Sokka’s house. When Katara finally pulled up to the curb, the three in back got out, but Sokka placed his hand on Katara’s shoulder before she could open her door. 

“You guys go ahead in, tell our Gran Gran we’ll be right in,” Sokka told the others. “I just want to talk to Katara.”

The other three nodded, Aang shutting the door behind them. 

“ _ What  _ Sokka?” 

“Katara, what the hell is wrong with you? Did something happen?” 

“My manager called. He’s giving me tonight and next week off,” Katara said. 

“Well, that’s good, isn’t it?” Sokka asked, looking confused. “Midterms are next week, Gran Gran has been encouraging you to ask for that week off anyways.”

“That’s not the  _ point,  _ Sokka,” Katara scoffed. “I want to work.”

“There’s more to this, isn’t there?” Sokka crossed his arms. “Tell me more.”

Katara let out an angry breath. “ _ Fine.  _ If you must know Mai and Ty Lee cornered me in Spanish asking why I was hanging around Zuko.”

“But you don’t hang around Zuko?” Sokka looked thoroughly confused. 

“Well, actually… about that… we have the same study block and he happened to join me at my table.” 

“Gotcha,” Sokka replied, “but what does this have to do with… Mai and Ty Lee?”

“Mai seems to think Zuko dumped  _ her  _ for  _ me.”  _ Katara explained, rolling her eyes. 

“Well… did he?” 

“Sokka!”

“I mean, it’s not a totally stupid question,” Sokka teased. “But you’re right, I highly doubt that’s what happened.” 

“Thank you. Plus, I didn’t even know they broke up, let along were dating.” 

“There’s more,” he said, reaching over and giving her a shove. “Come on, let it out.”

Katara groaned and hit her head against the steering wheel. “Junior prom.”

“What about it?”

“Jin seems to think I should ask Aang,” Katara told him. “Ridiculous.” 

“Why? You guys are friends.” 

“Sokka, I don’t know if I even want to go. It would just be totally weird. And bringing Aang but not having the rest of you seems wrong.” 

Sokka studied his sister, and Katara could tell he was trying to formulate an argument as to why she should go to prom and not worry about everyone else. He opened his mouth, but seemed to decide against arguing. 

“Well, whatever you decide, you do you,” he said finally. “Now come on, I told Toph and Aang I would help them study for geometry.”

Katara and Sokka got out of the car and made their way to the house. Aang, Toph, and Suki were already situated in the living room, each spread out on the floor with Gran Gran’s homemade lemonade sitting on their floor next to them. 

“Everything good?” Suki asked looking up at them. 

“We’re good,” Sokka replied, setting his bag down and sitting next to Suki. “Okay, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, get over here with that geometry homework.”

“I call Tweedle Dee!” Toph called, scooting her way towards Sokka. 

“Aw,  _ man,”  _ said Aang, “I don’t want to be Tweedle Dum.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any suggestions about where we can go from here, please let me know!


	5. colors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Midterms are HERE and the gaang is STRESSED. 
> 
> Zuko opens up a bit more to Katara about his life, and Katara begins questioning what exactly she and Zuko are. Acquaintances? Friends? Study buddies? Who knows, not Katara.

Friday and the weekend flew by, and Katara was now thankful her manager had her take the week off from work. Midterms were stressful, and Katara and the gang were constantly studying either at lunch, in the library after school, or at one of their houses. They tried joking to lighten the mood, Aang showing everyone his famous marble trick, but it didn’t always help. Sokka and Suki were the most stressed, as these were their last midterms before moving on to college, and if the midterms were difficult, what are finals going to be like? Student government and peer leadership also decided to take the week off, giving Katara more time on her hands that she knew what to do with. Still, although she was angry that she was forced to take time for herself, she was secretly thankful.

One day after school, after Katara’s AP US History midterm, she was making her way to the library to study with the rest of the crew. As she walked by the main office, she noticed Zuko and an older man walking out. 

“Hi, Zuko!” said Katara, giving him a small wave. 

“Oh, uh, hi Katara,” replied Zuko, blushing a bit. “How are you?”

“I’m good, just heading to the library to study. You?”

“Fine, fine.” Zuko turned to the man next to him. “Uncle, this is Katara. Katara, this is my Uncle Iroh.” 

Katara and Uncle Iroh shook hands. Iroh had kind eyes and a mischievous smile. “Hello, miss Katara, it is very nice to meet you.”

“You as well,” she replied. 

“I’m just here for a meeting with Zuko’s teachers,” Iroh told her, motioning to his nephew. 

“Uncle,” groaned Zuko. Noticing Katara’s worried face, he said, “I’m not in trouble. Don’t worry.” 

“Nephew, you do not come off as a trouble maker, do you?” Irok asked, pretending to be shocked. Katara giggled. “No, he is not in trouble. But, Zuko, we should go. I need to meet the construction manager at the shop to fill out some paperwork. Unless, you’d like to stay with your friends and I can come get you later?”

“Yeah, Zuko, come hang out with us!” Katara exclaimed. “Sokka and I could always drive you home if you need us to. Aang’s at a swim meet, so we have extra room in the car.”

Zuko shifted uncomfortable, glancing back and forth between his uncle. “Well… we do have AP physics tomorrow… and I guess I could get some help from your brother if he won’t mind?”

“I’m sure he won’t! He was actually just complaining about that midterm today, so I think he’d want your help as well.” 

“It’s settled then!” said Iroh, clapping his hands together. “Zuko, you text me about the ride situation. It was very nice to meet you, Katara.”

Zuko nodded, and Iroh gave him a good natured clap on the back before leaving Katara and Zuko alone. 

The two walked in step together towards the library. She couldn’t help but wonder why Zuko’s uncle had to come in for a meeting. 

“It was a 504 meeting,” Zuko stated, as if reading her mind. “That’s why he was here.”

“A what?” Katara asked, looking at him. “What’s that?”

“Do you know what an IEP is?” he asked her. 

“Yeah, Sokka was put on one in middle school. He has dyslexia and ADHD. He struggled with reading for a while, but he was actually taken off of it last year. It was just a document talking about his diagnoses and stuff, right?”

Zuko nodded. “Yeah, sort of. An IEP kind of documents a student’s disability and their level of performance in education. There are these things called ‘benchmarks’ that each student needs to meet. Students are also given goals they need to meet while given special education services.”

“Okay,” replied Katara, “and a 504 is like that?”

“Sort of,” Zuko explained, “An IEP will use benchmarks and goals to decide what types of services a student needs. Not only that, an IEP is more expansive and can cover everything from learning disabilities to developmental delays.” 

“Which is why Sokka hasd one,” Katara stated, slowly understanding. “I never really knew what it was all about.” 

“Right,” Zuko agreed. “A 504 plan can fall under an IEP, but whereas an IEP is for a student whose education is being affected by their disability, a 504 may not require that. A 504 could be more for a kid who is being affected mentally or physically, but there’s no effect on how they do in school. Like a student is in a wheelchair; they need accomodations for getting around the school, like leaving class five minutes early, but their performance in school is at the appropriate grade level, so they don’t need an IEP.”

“Right, okay,” Katara said. “So, uh, why are you on one? If I can ask?”

Zuko gave her a small smile. “I wouldn’t have brought it up if I didn’t want to tell you about it.”

Katara blushed. “I don’t know, maybe you just wanted to share your extensive knowledge about IEPs and 504s.”

Zuko started laughing. She hadn’t heard him laugh yet, and was surprised by how different it made him look as opposed to his brooding self. 

“Uncle did a lot of research about the two and shared all of them with me when we were trying to figure out with my previous school what to put me on. I’m a good student, but I was diagnosed with depression and generalized anxiety disorder a year or so after my mom died. Coming to school became hard, so my uncle contacted the school and said he wanted me put on something. I also found myself needing to take frequent breaks because I would just get so  _ tired,  _ so my plan was more ‘when does Zuko need to go to the nurse’ or ‘can Zuko come to school for a full day?’ That, and I lost most of my vision in my left eye. There was a lot to go into it.” 

“Gotcha,” replied Katara. “So, what, he was meeting about progress?”

“No, more talking about next year and taking me off of it. I really haven’t needed it since sophomore year, but Uncle wanted me to keep it just in case.” Zuko shrugged. “Never know. I’m working with my guidance counselor on an adjustment plan for college.” 

“Oh, okay. That’s good at least.”

“Yeah.”

The two fell silent once again and found themselves at the entrance of the school library. 

“Did you and Azula move in with your uncle after your mom died?” Katara asked, pushing the door open. 

Zuko brushed his hair away from his face. “Uh, no. We lived with our dad, but I moved in with Uncle when I was about thirteen. Nothing to do with my mom.” 

_ Well he’s becoming more mysterious by the minute,  _ Katara thought to herself, as she looked away from Zuko and began scanning for her friends. She spotted them in the corner, Sokka looking up and waving them over. Zuko followed Katara’s lead to the table.

“Hey, guys! Hope you don’t mind I invited Zuko,” she said as she sat down, motioning for Zuko to do the same. 

“Not at all!” Sokka exclaimed, looking as though all of his prayers came true. “Zuko, buddy, I need some help here. I was just about to text you. I have  _ no  _ idea what the hell is happening here.” 

Katara gave Zuko a small smile, as if to say ‘I told you so’, and pulled out her textbooks. Zuko and Sokka put their heads together and began working on their study guide. 

Katara’s phone buzzed in her pocket. 

_ Suki > my dear Kat, what is happening here? _

Katara shot Suki a look. Suki, who was sitting next to Sokka across the table, smirked. 

_ S > come on Kat, what’s going on? _

_ K > nothing! We were talking in the hall and I invited him to hang with us. No biggie. _

_ S > _ 😏

Katara rolled her eyes at Suki and put her phone away. She and Zuko were just… friends? Yesterday she told Mai they were acquaintances, but now? Now it seemed like she and Zuko were actually becoming friends. She wasn’t sure what to think, especially since they were starting this friendship midway through the year and he was a senior who would be leaving for college in seven months. Yeah. Just friends. 

They all continued working, Sokka and Zuko on physics, Katara on AP Lang, Suki on French, and Toph on chemistry.

“Ugh, I thought geometry was bad!” Toph exclaimed, throwing her hands up. “I wish Aang was here, he could suffer with me.”

The others chuckled and kept working. Katara tried focusing on her notes in front of her, but she kept thinking about everything that happened the last few days. Mai accusing her of being more than friends with Zuko, Jin talking to her about prom, Zuko opening up to her pretty quickly. It was all too much. 

“Ah, I got to go,” Zuko said about half an hour later, staring at a message on his phone. “Uncle needs me for something, so he’s on his way to get me.”

“Well, expect me to be texting you at midnight about this,” Sokka told him, motioning to the physics work scattered around him. 

Zuko nodded and got up. “Well, bye, everyone, it was nice to be with you.”

Everyone said goodbye as Zuko waved to them. 

Suki looked at Katara. “Barely know him, huh?”

“Shut up,” mumbled Katara. “Nothing wrong with inviting him to hang out.”

“He seems okay,” Toph replied, leaning back in her chair. “I like him. Make sure to invite him more.” 

“Oooh, Sokka, maybe you can invite him to my place on Friday night?” Suki suggested. “I mean, we all know him, and he and Katara are friends. Why not?”

“Hmm,” said Sokka, stroking his chin. “Maybe. I dunno, the guy doesn’t strike me as ‘party guy’.”

Suki gave him an affectionate punch. “Well, talk to him. See what he says. And it’s not a  _ party  _ it’s a get together. Where we might have alcohol. We’ll see.”

“Woohoo! A party where there might be alcohol,” cheered Toph. “I call not the designated driver!”

“Dammit, Toph, we’re all sleeping over any- wait just a damn minute, Toph you can’t drive you’re  _ blind,”  _ exclaimed Sokka. “Can’t believe I fell for that again.” 

The other two girls laughed as Katara smiled tightly. Inviting Zuko. She wasn’t sure that was a good idea. Her phone buzzed once again and she took it out, a notification from Instagram on her screen. Katara opened it to see she got a DM. 

_ zuko_comet > you know, i never got your number. Think i could snag that? _

Katara’s heart pounded in her throat. She glanced up at the others, hoping they couldn’t see the red creeping up through her face; they didn’t, since they all now had their noses buried back into their textbooks, except for Toph who was listening to an audiobook on her phone. 

_ kitkat_katara> sure  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY SO. If you're wondering "tiffaniesblews, how do you know so much about IEPs and 504s?"   
> The answer is: I have a Masters in Special Education and I worked in special education for a few years. I actually pulled out an old textbook to double check and make sure I was describing the difference correctly; though I didn't do it perfectly, because Zuko is a teenager and only knows so much. And now I'm imagining Zuko as a special education teacher and I'm CRYING about it.


	6. young god

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Party at Suki's! Katara learns more about Zuko's strange and mysterious past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for alcohol use, implied alcoholism, and implied child abuse.

Sokka somehow convinced Zuko to go over Suki’s Friday night to celebrate the end of midterms. Katara had no idea how he did it, but Sokka wouldn’t tell her. Then again, Zuko also texted her as soon as Sokka mentioned it to him in order to ask Katara if it was a joke. She assured him it was not a joke, and that they all enjoyed his company and it was Suki’s idea. 

Friday night, she got Zuko’s address from him as they were giving him, Aang, and Toph a ride to Suki’s. Toph was insistent she was not going to drive them all home, earning her a glare from Sokka that she could not see. 

“Here, Sokka, I think it’s that one,” Katara said, pointing to a house on the passenger side. Sokka pulled up to the house and looked out. 

“Seems small,” he commented. The house was small; one story and worn down. Sokka beeped the horn. A beat later, Zuko walked out, a bag swung over his shoulder. Sokka opened the window and said, “Hey, you can throw that in the trunk.”

Zuko nodded and threw his bag in the open trunk before crawling into the back seat. Katara looked back at him; he was wearing black sweatpants and a heavy red hoodie. The look was a lot different than from what he usually wears, but she liked it. 

“Thanks for the invite,” said Zuko, buckling his seatbelt. “That was cool of you guys.”

Sokka shrugged as he pulled away from the curb, ready to head to Toph’s. “No problem, buddy. What are friends for?” 

Katara caught Zuko's smile in the rearview mirror as he looked out the window. Has he never had proper friends before? 

“Yo, Zuko,” Sokka said, getting Zuko’s attention. “What type of music do you like?” 

“Oh, uh, I don’t think you’d like what I listen to,” Zuko answered, blushing slightly. 

“Come on, tell us!” Katara said, unplugging Sokka’s phone from the aux cord and plugging in her own. “I have a bunch of playlists on Spotify, but if there’s something you like, I can put it on.”

“Yeah, buddy, our carro es su carro,” Sokka said. 

“I… don’t think that’s proper Spanish, Sokka,” Zuko said. Katara laughed. “Really, just play your music, I’m fine.” 

“Okay,” said Katara, opening up her playlist. It was actually a playlist she and Aang collaborated on called ‘songs to scream to in the car’. She pressed shuffle and turned the music up; Fall Out Boy’s  _ Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down  _ blasted through the speakers. 

“Hey, wait,” Zuko said, sitting up a bit. “I love this song.”

“That means you have great taste,” Sokka said. “AM I MORE THAN YOU BARGAINED FOR YET…”

The three sang along, Katara doing air guitar more dramatically than she needed to. Zuko laughed at her from the back seat, and pretended to play some air drums, which then caused Katara to start laughing. Sokka head banged at every red light. 

The song ended just as they pulled up to Toph’s house. Toph’s parents came from money, meaning her house looked like a mansion compared to Zuko’s small one. Sokka put the car in park. 

“Okay, who’s getting Toph. Rock paper scissors for it,” he said turning towards Katara. They played two out of three. Sokka lost. “I’m coming, Toph!” 

He got out of the car, leaving Zuko and Katara alone. 

“Can he… beep the horn?” Zuko asked Katara. “Or is that a stupid question to ask?”

Katara turned around to look at him. “Not a stupid question. Honestly, Toph’s parents are super protective of her. They don't think she’s as capable of things as she is. It’s just easier for one of us to go get her at the door than make her meet us at the car and face the wrath of Mr. and Mrs. Beifong.” 

“Seems like bullshit,” said Zuko, frowning. “Toph is on the track team isn’t she? She’s a thrower?” 

Katara was surprised. “Yeah, she is. How did you know?”

Zuko shrugged. “Ty Lee is a high jumper. Azula, Mai, and I go to meets to support her. I remember seeing Toph and being really impressed.” 

Katara turned back around as Sokka opened the car door for Toph. Zuko knew more than he let on. 

“Hey, Sugar Queen, Sparky,” said Toph, settling herself down in the seat. “We ready to party?” 

“You know it,” replied Katara. “We just need to get Aang, so one of you will need to sit in the middle.”

“NOSE GOES,” yelled Toph, throwing her finger to her nose. “Did I win?” 

Katara looked back. Toph had her finger on her nose while Zuko looked at her confused. “Yep, Toph you won.”

“I haven’t played nose goes in  _ years _ ,” Zuko stated. “But yeah, I lost. Guess I’ll get the middle.” 

Sokka began making his way to Aang’s house, turning the music up once again. 

“Aw, yeah, Halsey!” said Toph, when Halsey’s  _ You should be sad  _ began playing. “This song is great.” 

Aang’s house was a little farther away, but he also lived closest to Suki. They went through a few songs, each singing along. When they pulled up to Aang’s, Sokka beeped the horn and Aang came bouncing out. Zuko unbuckled and shuffled to the middle. 

“NO MORE MIDTERMS!” yelled Aang as he got in the car next to Zuko. Zuko winced at the younger boy’s loud voice, but smiled back at him when Aang gave him an excited grin. “Let’s do this!” 

“To Suki’s!” exclaimed Sokka, starting the car once again and pulling onto the street. 

“Katara, are you playing our playlist?” Aang excitedly asked,  _ Welcome to the Black Parade  _ by My Chemical Romance now playing. 

“You betcha!” Katara replied. 

Aang began singing at the top of his lungs. Next to him, Zuko bobbed along, clearly thrown off by Aang’s energy. Katara just remembered this is technically the first time the two are officially meeting, but neither said anything. 

“Hey, you know this stuff too?” Aang asked Zuko. 

“Yeah, it’s some of my favorite music,” Zuko replied. 

“Awesome!” 

As the song ended, the crew pulled up to Suki’s house. They all tumbled out, grabbing bags from the trunk and making their way to the front door where Suki greeted them. 

“All right, children, to the basement!” Suki instructed, pointing towards the door. “Zuko, follow the crowd. I’ll be with you guys in a few, just waiting on the pizza to get here.”

Sokka dumped his bag in Katara’s arms. “I’ll stay with you waiting, Suki! Katara, take my stuff.”

Katara rolled her eyes, but did it anyway.

“Man, they’re  _ gross, _ ” Toph gagged as they made their way down the basement steps.

“Come on, Toph, they’re in  _ love,”  _ Aang teased. “Smoochie, smoochie.”

“Gross Twinkle Toes!” Toph said, giving Aang a slight shove at the bottom of the stairs. 

“Well, I think they’re sweet,” said Katara, setting her and Sokka’s bags on the ground next to the couch. 

Zuko walked over to the love seat, placing his bag on the ground next to it and sitting down. Katara could tell from how his shoulders tensed that he wasn’t as comfortable as the rest of the group. She went over and sat down next to him as Toph and Aang bickered about who was getting the air mattress closest to the fireplace. 

“Hey, you okay?” Katara asked Zuko. 

“Yeah, just nervous is all,” Zuko replied, not looking at her. 

“What’s there to be nervous about?”

Zuko looked up and glanced around the room. He and Katara were on the loveseat, there was a bigger couch against the wall across from them, and two air mattresses on the floor. A coffee table was set up with plates and cups, and there were board games and cards piled next to it. 

“It’s just been a while since I’ve had something like this, I guess,” he finally replied sighing. “Like, I usually just hang out with my sister and her friends, that is if they even wanted me there.”

“Didn’t you date Mai?” Katara asked before she could stop herself. “Or, uh, at least I thought I heard that?”

Zuko looked at her and gave her a small smile. “Yeah, we started dating when I was a sophomore and she was a freshman. I broke it off with her recently which is why I haven’t really been social lately. The three girls were kind of my only friends. And I didn’t even volunteer for that, that just happened.”

“I mean, you and Azula still talk though, right? So you can still hang out with Ty Lee and Mai too?” Katara asked him. 

“Wish it was that easy,” he stated, rubbing the back of his neck. “Remember how I told you I moved in with my uncle when I was thirteen?”

Katara nodded.

“Azula still lives with our dad, and I kind of don’t talk to my dad anymore.” 

“Oh.” Katara didn’t know what else to say. 

“I mean, it’s fine, I don’t want pity or anything,” Zuko said, looking at Katara. “Really, it was my own choice.” 

“You don’t need to explain yourself, Zuko, it’s okay.” 

The two stared at each other, but they were soon disrupted by Suki and Sokka banging down the stairs.

“Pizza!” Suki and Sokka called, placing the pizza on the coffee table. 

The six teenagers each helped themselves, grabbing sodas out of the minifridge and stuffing their faces. They exchanged what they thought of midterms: who took the hardest one, which one was the easiest, which one did they almost break down and cry during.

“Honesty, I thought Teo was going to cry when he got our calculus midterm,” Sokka said, stuffing his face with his fifth slice of pizza. “Zuko, what did you think of it?”

“I mean, I didn’t hate it, but I definitely wouldn’t recommend it to others,” Zuko replied, giving a small shrug. The others burst out into laughter, much to the surprise of Zuko. 

“Sparky’s got a sense of humor!” Toph said. “Who knew!”

Zuko blushed, but didn’t say anything. 

“Well, I for one, think my anatomy midterm was bullshit,” Suki said. “We had to name almost every bone in the body and they all look the same to me!” 

“Hey, Suki,” piped Aang, “what do you want to study in college?” 

“Easy: international studies,” Suki stated. “No anatomy for me!”

Aang nodded. “Sokka?”

Sokka took a quick swig of his Sprite. “Engineering. I’m not sure what type yet, but definitely that.”

“You’re good at math, you’ll be good at that,” Toph said, kicking her plate to the side. “What about you, Zuko?”

“Oh, well, I mean, I thought about it,” Zuko claimed, “but I’m not really sure yet…” 

“What were you thinking?” Katara asked him. 

“Education,” Zuko answered. “I think… I think I might go into special education. If not, I might just study literature.”

Sokka looked at him surprised. “Education, huh? Never saw you as that kind of guy.” 

Zuko blushed again. 

The others moved on, continuing their conversation about college. Katara hated it. Hated that her brother and Suki were leaving next year. Hated that she was finally getting to know Zuko and he was leaving in a few short months too. 

Suki got up and collected the empty pizza boxes as Sokka took everyone’s dirty plates to throw away. 

“Yo, Suki,” Toph called, “where’s that alcohol you mentioned?”

“Toph, shhh,” Suki said, “my parents.”

“Well?” 

Suki sighed and went back upstairs. A few minutes later, she returned with a bottle of vodka. 

“A girl from last year’s hockey team dropped it off earlier. You all owe me,” Suki said. 

Toph cheered. 

Suki poured the vodka into cups, mixing them with soda to dilute the alcohol. 

“If any of you get shit faced, I’ll kill you. So we’re not drinking a lot, and I will be monitoring. Waters are in the fridge,” Suki explained, passing each person a drink. 

Aang declined. “Nah, I’m good. I like watching you guys, it’s more fun that way.”

Toph took Aang’s cup from Suki. “More for me then!” 

Suki rolled her eyes and passed one to Katara and Zuko. Katara took it right away, but Zuko looked at Suki’s outstretched hand. 

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Katara told him. 

“Yeah, we can be sober buddies!” Aang said, holding up a water bottle. 

“Yeah, man, don’t feel pressured,” Sokka reassured him. “We watch out for each other, but seriously, we won’t judge you.” 

Zuko looked at each of them and then back at the cup in Suki’s hand. Taking a deep breath, he took it from her and took a tentative sip. 

“All right, buddy!” Sokka said, holding his cup up to Zuko. 

“Did Sparky take the cup?” Toph asked. “Because if he didn’t, I want it.”

“Yes, he did, Toph,” Katara replied. “And you should slow down, you already finished half of one!” 

As if to spite Katara, Toph tipped her cup back and finished the drink. She crushed the cup to her head and threw it away from her. Then she burped. 

Laughing, they continued drinking and talking. Suki decided it was time to break out Monopoly, because according to her, it’s more fun to play buzzed. Each person took a piece to play, except for Toph, who usually pairs up with someone else.

“I call Zuko!” she said, inching her way towards where Zuko was sitting.

“Oh, uh, you want to be with me?” he asked her, genuinely confused.

“Uh, yeah, you’re the new guy, I gotta help you,” Toph replied, giving Zuko a good natured punch. 

“Oh, okay,” he said, handing her the piece. “We’re the car if you want to know.”

Suki set up the game, everyone placing the pieces on start. As they played, they developed a drinking game. Take a shot every time you pass go. Take a shot whenever you have to go to jail. Take a shot when you have to pay another player. 

Soon enough, they were all feeling the effects of the alcohol, some more than others. Toph was just louder, Sokka was more handsy, and Katara just would not stop talking. It seemed like Suki and Zuko were the only ones who weren’t as obvious. 

“And  _ then  _ I told Shoji where he could shove his damn pen if he threw it at me again,” Toph said, standing up, her hands and arms moving everywhere. 

“Shoji is a jerk,” Aang said, nodding. “I dunno why he even tries though.”

“YEAH I KNOW!” Toph yelled. 

“Shhh!!” said Suki. 

“Zuko, you are so quiet, why are you always so quiet?” Katara asked, leaning on Zuko’s arm and staring up at him. 

“Yeah, Zuko, you’re a quiet guy!” Sokka said, his arm tightly around Suki. “I think this is the most we’ve interacted in the three years we’ve known each other.” 

Zuko shrugged, taking another drink from his cup. He was still on his first. 

“Is it because everyone else talks a lot? I can see it being that. No one ever shuts up,” Katara stated, sitting back up so that she was no longer on Zuko’s arm. “People never just stop.”

“You said it yourself, sweetness,” said Toph. 

Katara shot Toph the finger before remembering she couldn’t see it. “Toph, I am flipping you off.”

“Great,” said Toph. “Good to hear it.” 

Aang watched the exchange, silently laughing to himself. He pulled out his phone and looked at the time.

“Hey, guys, it’s one in the morning, I’m going to bed,” he told them. “Toph, I get the fireplace.”

“Dammit, Twinkle Toes!! Fine. You win.” Toph finished her drink and made her way to the other air mattress, ripping the blanket off and curling herself in it. “Good night.” 

Toph was out before Aang even made it to his own air mattress. 

Sokka got up and made his way to the bigger couch, dragging Suki with him. “Babe, I’m  _ tired,  _ can we sleep?” 

Suki looked over at Katara and Zuko and rolled her eyes. Turning her attention back to Sokka, she said, “Yes, babe, we can go to sleep.” 

She grabbed a blanket and settled herself next to Sokka. Throwing the blanket over the two of them, Katara watched as her brother and Suki snuggled closer together.

Zuko turned to her, “So it’s just us, huh?” 

“Yeah,” she said, “just us.” 

They sat on the floor next to each other, the others now spread out away from them, all asleep. 

Katara adjusted herself so that she was now facing Zuko. “Well, I’m not tired, so as long as we’re quiet, what do you want to talk about?”

Zuko faced Karata, spreading his legs out in front of him, and leaning on his elbow, his cup still in his hand. Katara’s knee rested on his leg. 

“Whatever you want I guess,” he told her, taking another drink. He grimaced and then held it out to Katara. “Hey, do you want to finish this? I don’t think I want it anymore.”

“Yeah, okay,” she replied, taking the cup away from him. It was still half full. “Oh wow, you didn’t drink much did you?”

Zuko shook his head. “I’m not the biggest drinker. And no, you did not peer pressure me, I wanted to try it. But, honestly? That shit is nasty.”

Katara giggled and took a drink from the cup. “Yeah, I think Suki got the cheap stuff.” 

“Well, that might explain it.” 

A beat. 

“How come you don’t like to drink?” Katara asked. 

“My dad mostly,” Zuko replied, giving a small shrug. “He drank, or I guess, drinks a lot. He’s not really the nicest when he drinks.” 

Katara felt her throat close. She leaned over and put the cup on the table, now unable to finish it. 

“I’m sorry, Zuko,” she told him. Before she could stop herself, she placed her hand on his leg. He didn’t move it away. 

“Katara, it’s not your fault. He’s always been like that.”

“I mean,  _ still,  _ that’s super shitty.”

“Yeah,” Zuko sighed. “Yeah it is. He used to hit my mom around when he had been drinking. Once mom died, he turned to me.” 

“Is that… is that why you moved with your Uncle?” she asked.

Zuko took a deep breath and nodded. He adjusted his position so that he was now sitting crossed legged directly in front of Katara. “Yeah. That’s why I moved with my Uncle. He would never touch Azula though, so she stayed with him. Little daddy’s girl.” 

He sounded bitter. Katara felt the blood pounding in her ears, the effects of the alcohol slowly wearing off. 

“Bullshit,” she slurred. “That’s bullshit.”

Zuko chuckled. “Yeah. Bullshit.”

The two sat staring at each other once again. Katara didn’t get it: she and Zuko had only been friends for, what? Two weeks? Here he was spilling his soul to her. 

Leaning forward, she reached her hand up, gently placing it on his scar. Stroking it with her thumb, she asked, “What happened?”

She thought Zuko would pull away, would tell her it was none of her business. Instead, he raised his hand to hers, holding her hand against his cheek. She felt a tear brush up against her thumb. He was crying. 

“Zuko?” 

He looked at her. When they met, Zuko seemed cool, confident, like he was on top of the world. But now, she could see him as he was: sad, broken, confused. 

“You don’t need to say anything,” she reassured him. “I… we can forget I asked.” 

He squeezed her hand in his. “My dad threw boiling water at me.”

Katara’s breath caught. “What?”

“He was cooking. We were arguing. He got mad. Third degree burns.”

“Zuko, that’s, well that’s… that’s  _ awful,”  _ she said, pulling her hand away from his face. “How could a person do that to their own child?”

“Katara, my dad was never a nice man, you need to know that,” Zuko told her, reaching for her hand again and taking it in his. “Uncle Iroh heard when I had the hospital call him and he came and got me.”

“Why is your dad not in  _ jail? _ ”

“Because I’m scared of him and never told anyone what really happened,” Zuko stated. “Listen, Iroh knows, I’m safe now. He’s my legal guardian.”

Katara didn’t know what to say. Didn’t know how to react. She let go of Zuko’s hand and threw her arms around him, which caught him off guard. 

“Why are you telling me all this?” she asked him when she pulled away, her arms still loosely on around his shoulders. 

“Because you’re easier to talk to than I thought you would be.” 

Katara removed her arms from around Zuko. 

“Listen,” he told her, “when I introduced myself to you at work, I didn’t mean for all this. I just knew you from school and thought I’d introduce myself. But then… you’re just so welcoming. You make everyone feel like they’re important. I dunno, the more I bumped into you, the more I wanted to talk to you.” 

Katara smiled a bit. “My Gran Gran told me I tend to always put others before me and never take time for myself.”

“Your Gran Gran sounds like a wise woman,” Zuko replied. “She and my Uncle would get along well.” 

“I bet they would,” she said. “Thank you for being so open with me. Does anyone else know? I mean… besides Azula?” 

“Just Mai and Ty Lee, but Azula and I gave them a watered down version,” he told her. “Honestly, I like that they don’t know the whole story. Makes it easier.” 

Katara nodded. Suddenly, she felt her eyelids getting heavy, as though she wouldn’t be able to keep her eyes open. 

“You tired?” he asked her. Katara nodded. Zuko stood up, offering her a hand which she took. He guided her to the love seat, where she lay down, pulling a blanket around her. 

“Wait,” she said, turning to look at him. “Where are you going to sleep?”

“The floor?” 

She stared at him a bit, before moving over so that she was squished up against the pillows. “Come on in.”

“Katara…”

“Come on,” she said again, “no friend of mine is sleeping on the floor.”

He looked around, noting how everyone was not breathing deeply. He sighed and joined Katara on the couch. She offered him some of the blanket, which he took. They lay there awkward, backs to each other.

“Well, good night, Zuko.”

“Good night, Katara.”

And Katara was asleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter I said I was thinking about Zuko being a special ed teacher; then I remembered that this was my fic and I make the rules. So special education teacher Zuko it is!


	7. be kind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just like Zuko did for her, Katara starts to open up about herself.

The first thing Katara noticed when she woke up the next morning was how hot she felt. The second thing she noticed was that Zuko’s arms were wrapped tightly around her. 

Sitting there in silence, she wracked her brain on what happened last night. When she fell asleep, she was  _ sure  _ they were sleeping back to back. How and when did he turn around and get his arms around her? 

Scooting away from him a bit, she sat up gently so she wouldn’t wake him. Katara looked around; everyone else was still asleep. She could hear Sokka snoring on the other couch. Poor Suki.

She looked down at Zuko, who was sleeping peacefully next to her. His arms were now around her waist since he didn’t notice her moving out from under him. Not wanting to be the only one awake, she poked his side. He shifted a bit, a small groan escaping from his lips.

“Five more minutes, Uncle,” he muttered, finally moving his arms and rolling over so he was no longer facing Katara.

She giggled and poked him again. She saw his eye twitch; his scar looked a bit more irritated this morning. 

“Zuko, wake uuuuup,” Katara whispered, poking him again. “Please.” 

She watched as he continued muttering, rolling back over so that he was facing Katara again. He slowly opened his eyes and looked up at her, squinting. 

“What time is it?” he asked her. 

Katara looked around the room, her eyes finally lying on the clock in the corner of the room. 

“Almost 7:30,” she replied. 

Zuko groaned and sat up. Katara couldn’t help but notice his arm tightly pressed up against her own. 

“Hey, uh, weird question,” she began, “uh, what happened last night?”

Zuko rubbed his eyes and looked at her. “What do you mean? Do you mean you don’t remember what we talked about?”

“Oh, no, no!” she replied, watching the worry fade from Zuko’s face. “No, I remember all of that.” 

“Oh,” he replied, his shoulders relaxing. He leaned against the arm of the seat. “So what do you mean?” 

“Well, when I woke up… Uh… I sort of woke up in your arms? Like, your arms were around me.” She could feel herself turning red with every word. “And when we fell asleep, we were definitely back to back. So I just… was confused.” 

Zuko rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. “Uh, well you had a nightmare.” 

Katara blinked at him. She didn’t remember that. “I did?”

He nodded. “Yeah, around four in the morning I woke up to you muttering in your sleep. You were saying something about your mom? I tried to wake you up, but you just kept going. You were starting to yell and cry, so I just… wrapped you in my arms and held you until you fell asleep. Only took a few minutes before you calmed down and stopped muttering.” 

She stared at him. She hadn’t had a nightmare about her mom in a long time. 

“Uh, was that okay?” he asked her, moving away from her to give her space. “If not, then I’m really sorry. I didn’t know what else to do and I didn’t want to wake Sokka-”

“No,” she interrupted, “no that’s… that’s okay. Thank you for doing that.” 

He nodded at her. “Yeah, no worries. Are you okay?”

“I really don’t remember the nightmare to be honest,” she told him. She assumed she knew what it was about. “I think I know what it was though.” 

“Oh yeah?” 

“I was in the room when my mom died.” She swallowed. “She died of breast cancer when I was six. She was in the hospital, dad, Sokka and I were visiting her. We were all talking. Sokka was hungry so dad took him to the cafeteria to get him some lunch. Mom was so,  _ so  _ tired that day. She fell asleep and she…”

Zuko reached for Katara’s hand and squeezed it in his own. “I’m sorry.” 

Katara wiped the tears forming in her eyes with her other hand. “I had nightmares about it for a while. When the monitor started beeping, I started yelling for her, asking her to wake up.”

“Katara, that’s terrible. I never knew…” 

She sniffed. “I mean how would you? Sokka barely ever talks about it.” 

“No, but still. Here I am telling you about my mom and dad, and I never knew you were hurting too,” he said. 

“That’s not your fault. Besides,” she said, knocking her shoulder into his, “we technically just met.” 

He gave her a small smile. “Yeah. That’s true.” 

They sat there quiet for a bit before Katara tried to get up. She reached over Zuko and found her bag. “Where’s my phone?”

Zuko felt around the couch for a bit, checking the side table and the floor. “Oh, here it is.” 

Taking it from him, Katara moved so that she was now leaning up against the other side of the couch, facing Zuko. Zuko took his own phone out of his pocket and the two scrolled through their respective messages or social media timelines.

“Hey, Zuko,” said Katara, holding up her phone. “Smile.”

Zuko looked up and made a face just as Katara snapped a picture. She began laughing and showed it to him. “Hmmm, not the worst photo of me.”

Opening up Instagram, she went to her stories and added the picture, tagging Zuko in it. Not soon after she posted it, his phone  _ dinged  _ with the notification. 

“Oh, gee, thanks, Kat,” he teased, poking her side with his toe. “Your turn.”

Katara stuck her tongue out, scrunching her nose as she did so. She also tried to ignore how her heart skipped a beat when he called her ‘Kat’. 

“Ah, that’s one for the ‘Gram,” said Zuko, laughing. 

As they sat laughing, Aang snored on the air mattress by the fireplace. They looked up just in time to see him sit up and glance around the room. Once he spotted them, he smiled.

“Good morning, guys,” he said, yawning and stretching his arms out. “Sleep well?”

“Yes, thanks, Aang,” replied Katara. Aang gave her a look, as if confused by how she and Zuko ended up on the couch together, but he didn’t say anything. 

“Zuko, you too?”

“Yes, I did. What about you, Aang?” Zuko asked.

“I slept  _ great _ .” Aang answered. “Hungover?”

Katara actually hadn’t felt any of the effects of the alcohol like she thought she would. She didn’t drink as much water as she should have, but there was definitely a small headache that was forming. She shook her head nonetheless, as did Zuko. 

“I’m  _ starving,  _ when do you think the others will be up?” Aang asked, looking over at Toph who was wrapped in her blanket and then Suki and Sokka cuddled next to each other on the couch. 

“Now you’re starting to sound like Sokka,” Katara teased, throwing a pillow at Aang, who deflected. Though once he hit the pillow away from him, it flew over to Toph, hitting her.

“Huh? Who’s there? What?” Toph yelled, sitting up and looking around. “Guys? Guys, who’s there?”

“Shit,” Katara mumbled as Aang gave her an apologetic look. Katara shot up off the couch and made her way towards Toph, gently lowering herself next to her and placing a hand on her shoulder. “Sorry, Toph, it was just Aang and I. I threw a pillow at him and he hit it away from him and it accidentally hit you.”

“Yeah, sorry, Toph,” said Aang.

Toph gave Katara a punch to the shoulder. “Well try to remember the blind girl when you do that next time, okay?” 

“Hey, what’s going on?” said Sokka, slowly sitting up and glaring over at them. “Can you keep it down, some of us are dying?”

Suki sat up too, staring at her boyfriend. “Some of us didn’t drink too much last night.”

“Ugh,” Sokka groaned lying back down and pulling the blanket over his face. 

Suki shook her head and looked at the others. “Well, who wants breakfast?”

“Oh, me!” replied Sokka, throwing the blanket off of him, causing him to get another eye roll from Suki. 

Toph threw the pillow next to her in Sokka’s general direction, nearly hitting him. 

They all got up and marched their way up the stairs to the kitchen where Suki’s parents had laid out bagels, cream cheese, and coffee for the gang. Sitting around the kitchen table, they passed the food and coffee around, making small talk as they did. 

When they finished, they all trudged their way back to the basement, each one of them finding their bags laying around the room.

“Suki, do you need help cleaning at all?” Katara asked, looking around the messy room. 

Suki waved her hand. “Nah, girl, you guys are fine. I’ll probably just clean this all later. No worries.”

Despite what she said, the others help Suki clean up anyway. It was the least they could do. By 10:00, they were waving goodbye to Suki and making their way to Sokka and Katara’s car. Like the night before, Zuko crawled into the middle.

“You know, Toph, I really think you should get the middle,” Katara said. “Zuko is taller than you.”

“No, it’s fine, I really don’t mind,” Zuko replied. 

“See, let the boy live,” commented Toph. “Now play some music.” 

Sokka plugged his phone into the aux cord and put on his ‘car jams’ playlist: basically just a bunch of 80s music he knew all the words to. They were all quiet on the way to Aang’s and Toph’s, as they were all tired by the previous night’s events. When Katara got back into the car from walking Toph to her front door, they were off to drop off Zuko.

“So, buddy,” said Sokka, glancing at Zuko in the rearview mirror, “have fun at your first party?”

“Yeah, I did,” Zuko replied, shrugging a bit. “Thank you for inviting me. I really appreciate it.”

“Hey, man, no worries. I wish we did this sooner,” Sokka told him, looking both ways at the stop sign. “You’re a pretty cool guy, Zuko.”

Katara watched him blush in the mirror. 

“Thanks,” he muttered. 

When Sokka pulled up to Zuko’s, there was an older man in the front yard. Katara recognized him as Zuko’s uncle. When he saw the car pull up, he gave them all an enthusiastic wave. 

Zuko got out of the car, making his way to the trunk. Katara rolled her window down. “Hello!”

Iroh walked over to the window and smiled at Katara and Sokka. “Hello, Miss Katara. You must be Sokka over there, correct? I appreciate you for inviting my nephew out. So nice of you both.” 

“ _ Uncle _ ,” said Zuko. 

“What, Zuko? You have some good friends, that’s all,” Iroh replied, giving Katara and Sokka a small wink. 

“Well, Zuko, is a great guy,” Katara stated, causing Zuko to turn even redder. “We’re happy to have him!” 

“Yeah, Zuko’s the best!” Sokka agreed.

“Well, Uncle, we need to let Katara and Sokka go,” said Zuko, giving Iroh a push out of the way. “Thanks again, guys, I’ll see you Monday.”

“See you Monday!” replied the siblings in unison. Katara waved out her window as Sokka drove off.

“I didn’t know he lived with his uncle,” said Sokka. 

“Yeah, he does,” replied Katara. “He’s been living with him since he was thirteen.”

Sokka looked at her out of the corner of his eye. “How do you?”

“He told me,” she replied, giving a small shrug. “We talked a lot when everyone else was asleep.”

“Oh  _ did  _ you now,” teased Sokka, making a turn. “Is that all you did?”

Katara punched his arm. “Shut up.”

Sokka laughed but didn’t push her further. Still, she couldn’t lie to Sokka about her nightmare. 

“I dreamt about mom again,” she said, causing Sokka to turn the wheel too sharp. 

“What?!” 

“Well, I don’t really remember it, really,” she told him, focusing on her hands on her lap. 

“Then how do you know? Did you wake up and just feel like you did?” he asked her, now looking at her at the red light. 

“Um, no.” She took a deep breath. “Zuko and I shared the love seat and apparently I woke him up with my crying.”

“You shared?” Sokka asked her. “You know what, don’t explain that. Did he wake you up at least?”

“He tried apparently. And when he couldn’t…” Katara really didn’t want to tell Sokka the next part, but absolutely hated lying to her brother. “I guess he just put his arms around me to cuddle and calm me down. I woke up in his arms.”

Sokka blew out a breath. “Damn, well okay…” 

“Is that all you have to say?” Katara asked, finally looking up at him. 

“I’m really sorry you dreamt about mom, that really sucks. It’s been, what? Four years since your last nightmare?”

Katara nodded. “Yeah. I don’t know what triggered it.”

“Well… there is one thing we know,” said Sokka. 

“What?”

“Zuko definitely likes you,” teased Sokka. 

“ _ Sokka,  _ you don’t know that.” 

He shrugged. “Well you never know.” 

As they got closer to their house, they saw a familiar car parked in the driveway. 

“Dad’s home!” exclaimed Katara. 

Sokka pulled up to the curb and the two stumbled out of the car, grabbed their bags out of the trunk and ran to their front door. When they threw open the door, Hakoda was seated on his favorite recliner, his feet up.

Seeing his children, Hakoda stood up and opened his arms. “Sokka! Katara!” 

They threw down their bags and ran into his arms, burying their faces in his chest.

“We missed you, Dad!” said Sokka, pulling back.

“Yeah, we really did!” Katara agreed, still holding on to her father. He held her tightly against him. 

“Why don’t you two put your stuff away and we can catch up,” Hakoda suggested. “Your grandmother is already starting lunch, so it will just be the three of us.” 

Sokka and Katara did just that and came back to the living room, sitting on the floor in front of Hakoda’s recliner.

“So, tell me everything that’s happened in the past three weeks. Midterms. Friends. Sports. Work. Relationships. Go.”

Sokka did most of the talking, telling Hakoda about his midterms, his classes, Suki, and his new hockey schedule. Katara told him about work and school.

“Oh yeah, and we have a new friend,” Sokka told Hakoda.

“Oh?” Hakoda asked. “So late in the year?”

“Well, sort of,” Sokka replied. “He’s in some of my classes at school. His name is Zuko. He and Katara are friendly.” 

“ _ Sokka,”  _ Katara hissed.

“Do tell,” said Hakoda, now facing his daughter. 

Katara sighed. “I mean, like Sokka said, he and Sokka share some classes. He came into work a couple weeks ago and introduced himself because he recognized me. I dunno, now we’re friends, that’s it really.”

Hakoda studied Katara for a minute. “Interesting. Seems quick.”

“I guess so.” Katara shrugged. “But he gets along with the rest of us, so it works.”

“Yeah, dad, he’s really great,” Sokka confirmed. “Plus, if he tries to pull something with Katara, I’ll take care of it.”

Katara placed a well aimed kick at Sokka’s stomach. Sokka grabbed her foot, and pulled at it. They started wrestling, Hakoda’s loud laugh echoing in the room. 

“You two wolves,” he said. “I love you both so much.”

Later, Katara was in her room, trying to focus on some of the homework she was assigned before midterms. Instead, she scrolled through Instagram. She watched Zuko's story, the photo he took of her made her heart pound again. There was no written caption, but there was a laughing emoji. Katara smiled. Just as she was about to place her phone down, she noticed she had a DM in response to her story of Zuko. 

_ princessazula > this is interesting. Since when are you and zuzu friends? _

Katara stared at the message on the screen. She barely even talked to Azula. To be honest, she also didn’t remember the two girls followed each other on Instagram, so the DM surprised Katara in two ways. 

_ kitkat_katara > this is a recent thing i guess.  _

_ princessazula > hmm. Well Mai won’t be happy. If my dear brother gives you any trouble, do let me know.  _

Katara didn’t know how to reply. She quickly screenshot the messages and sent them straight to Suki. 

A minute later, Suki was FaceTiming her. “Girl. What. Spill.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading and commenting! Any and all suggestions welcome! You're all great :)


	8. heaven in hiding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> January becomes February and Katara continues on with her routine.

The school year continued as normal but the only difference was that Zuko was now a permanent part of the crew. He fit in easily, stepping into the role of ‘senior looking out for his younger friends’, helping Aang and Toph with their geometry and chemistry homework when Sokka had hockey practice, and reading ove Katara’s essay for AP Lang whenever they had a study block together.

“You know, Dr. Roku actually stopped me after class one day,” Zuko mentioned during study one day, glancing up from the paper he was writing. 

Katara looked up from her precalculus homework. “Yeah? How come?”

“He asked me why I wasn’t hanging out with him anymore,” Zuko stated, shaking his head and laughing. “I think he was worried something happened.”

“So what did you tell him?” Katara asked. 

“Uh, I told him I was spending the study block with a friend,” Zuko replied, shrugging. “I think he was just relieved I had a friend my age. I guess being friends with your AP Physics teacher is considered weird.”

Katara laughed. “Lucky you I guess.”

Zuko smiled at her. She found that Zuko smiled more often around her, as if making up for years of not doing so. “Yeah. Lucky me.”

January bled into February and Katara was trying to work more hours at Starbucks. When she did, she was constantly updating Yue about her friendship with Zuko, sending the older girl into squeals. Sometimes when she was working, the gang would come in and visit her to do work. Sokka would sometimes be at practice or a game, Aang might have a late night swim meet, but Suki, Toph, and Zuko were almost always there. 

Junior girls were starting to become almost unbearable, constantly talking about prom. What color dress, who’s going with who, is the theme  _ perfect _ ? Katara couldn’t even think of prom, no matter how many times Jin and On Ji kept pestering her about it. Aang kept dropping hints that if she needed a date, he would be happy to join her, but she wasn’t even sure she wanted to go with Aang, let alone go at all. 

Sokka and Suki were talking about  _ senior  _ prom at lunch one day, which caused Katara to roll her eyes at them. 

“Man, all I’ve been hearing about since midterms ended is junior prom,” Katara stated, “I don’t need all this senior prom talk.”

“Come on, Kat,” said Suki, “It’s not all bad.”

“What, you two going together?” Toph asked. “Sokka did you already ask?”

“Ah, well,” Sokks started, turning red. “Not yet, but I have a plan!”

Suki gave him a peck on the cheek before turning back to her pasta bowl. Zuko sat next to her, working on his calculus homework.

“Hey, Zuko,” Sokka said, leaning across Suki, “you already thinking about prom?”

Zuko shook his head, eyes still on his paper. 

“Thinking of asking someone?” Sokka asked.

“Not sure yet,” Zuko mumbled. 

Sokka looked at Katara, who shrugged. Katara and Zuko had both been complaining to each other about how absolutely ridiculous prom was, and how they weren’t sure they even wanted to go. Sokka studied Zuko a bit longer before shrugging and taking out his own calculus homework. 

“Zuko, what did you get for number nine?” 

That was the routine for Katara: school, student government or peer leadership, work, dinner, homework. Her manager convinced her to take weekends off that way she had some time to herself, which Katara was eternally grateful for. Why she thought she could work weekends too was beyond her, but she was just glad she had Friday nights to Sundays all to herself and her friends. 

On Valentine's Day, when Sokka and Suki went out to a fancy dinner, Katara decided to invite Toph, Aang and Zuko over to hang out. Hakoda was on the road again, and Gran Gran said she would make a nice dinner for the kids as they did homework and watched stupid romantic comedies. Katara had to remember to put on the audio visual for Toph so that she could hear what was happening. 

“I wonder what Sokka and Suki are doing right now,” Aang asked as they ate Gran Gran’s homemade pho. 

“Probably smooching,” Toph replied, slurping a piece. “Gross.”

Katara’s phone buzzed.

_ Zuko > does Toph have a crush on Sokka or something? _

Katara glanced at Zuko, his eyebrow cocked. Katara smirked. 

_ K > oh yeah, since like her freshman year _

_ Z > knew it!!!!  _

“Hey, love birds,” Toph said, breaking Zuko and Katara’s texting conversation. “I can hear your phones buzzing and I can make the connection you’re texting each other.”

“Just shit talking you, Toph, that’s all,” teased Zuko. Toph stuck her tongue out at him. Katara loved the relationship the two had, how quickly they became relaxed around each other. Still she also didn’t like how Toph could pick up on her and Zuko’s interactions as well. 

Aang looked back and forth between the two, as if wanting to say something. Instead, he grabbed himself a water bottle, and shoved his Chromebook in his bag. 

“Aang, you okay?” Katara asked.

“Fine,” Aang snapped, leaning up against the couch. “What are we watching next?” 

Zuko glanced at Katara, but she just shrugged. 

Toph took out her phone and listened to a text she received. “Actually, Twinkle Toes, there won’t be a next. My parents are here to pick us up.”

“Aw, already?” whined Katara. She loved hanging out with her friends. Not only that, but the only times she’s ever been alone with Zuko has been at school during study and for some reason, the thought of being alone with him in her living room sent her heart pounding out of her chest. 

“Yep,” Toph replied, standing up and grabbing her bag. “Come on, Twinkle Toes, you know my parents hate waiting.”

Aang got up too, grabbing his own bag. Toph and Aang bid Zuko and Katara farewell, shouting a thanks to Gran Gran and left. Zuko and Katara sat there in an awkward silence.

“So…” said Zuko. 

“So…” repeated Katara. This was ridiculous, they’ve been alone before. 

“My uncle texted me saying he won’t be able to come grab me for another hour or two… is that okay?”

Katara nodded. “Yeah of course.”

Zuko nodded back. He started packing up his work, placing it in his backpack gently and moving it aside. He looked over at her. “So, what movie were you planning on watching next?”

Katara looked at the DVDs she had piled next to her and started sorting through them. “‘Twilight’?”

Zuko groaned. “Not you too!”

“What do you mean not me too?” Katara asked, throwing a pillow at him. “‘Twilight’ is a cinematic masterpiece, I will not stand for this slander.”

“You’re being sarcastic, aren’t you?” he asked her, picking up on the sarcasm in her voice.

She smiled. “Yep. I like to watch it and make stupid commentary about it. You in?”

“Well, if you’re putting it that way… yeah I’m in.”

Katara took the disc out and placed it in the DVD player. Zuko got up off the floor and sat on the couch, patting the seat next to him for Katara to join him. She looked at him, trying to figure him out. 

“What, don’t want to sit next to me?” he teased. “Man, Kat, that hurts.” 

Katara smiled and bit her lip. Slowly, she made her ways towards Zuko and sat next to him, giving them enough space between them. He didn’t say anything, just leaned back, eyes glued to the TV. 

“Okay, so, I only know a bit about this movie, so you need to explain it to me,” he said as Katara navigated the menu. 

“Oh, I’m an expert, don’t you worry,” she replied.

The movie started and Katara couldn’t let herself relax. The last time she and Zuko were this close to each other is when they shared the love seat at Suki’s and she woke up in his arms. Still, she watched the movie, trying not to look over at Zuko, whose eyes were glued. 

“So Bella had to move to Forks?” he asked.

“Yep,” replied Katara. 

Zuko nodded and scooted closer to Katara. She felt her body tense up, but didn’t say anything. Instead, she found herself moving closer to him as well. Soon enough, they were up against each other, and Zuko slid his arm around Katara, bringing her close. She settled into him, worried Gran Gran was going to walk in, but rested her head against his chest. They didn’t say anything, an unspoken bond between them, as they continued watching the movie. 

About an hour later, Sokka and Suki walked through the door, Katara and Zuko cuddled up into each other asleep, the movie still playing in the background. 

Sokka glanced at Suki. “Well, uh, this is… something?”

“I think it’s sweet,” Suki answered. She took out her phone and snapped a picture. “I’m going to send this to Kat later, she’s going to  _ flip.”  _

Sokka and Suki made their way to Sokka’s room, greeting Gran Gran on the way. Once there Suki sank into Sokka’s bed, Sokka sitting next to her.

“So, what? They like each other now?” Sokka asked, looking in the direction of the living room. 

“You’re  _ still  _ on that?” Suki asked, sitting up. “So what if they do?”

“I dunno,” Sokka shrugged, “I just thought Katara and Aang would get together, that’s all.”

“Sokka, you dimwit,” Suki stated, poking Sokka’s side. “Katara doesn’t see Aang that way.”

“Well how do you know that?” Sokka asked.

“Because, Kat told me,” replied Suki, rolling her eyes. “And I think Zuko might be a good fit for Kat, don’t you think?” 

“Yeah… maybe…” 

Suki leaned over and gave Sokka a kiss. “Can we stop talking about them please? I thought we came here to make out?”

“Oh, yeah, yeah, you’re totally right,” Sokka replied, his arm sliding around his girlfriend and bringing her closer to him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SIDE NOTE: Katara states that Twilight is a cinematic masterpiece; I agree with her. I was Twihard for like 3 months, please let me live, high school was ROUGH.


	9. forever . . . (is a long time)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Zuko is an awkward turtle duck and doesn't know how girls work. Sokka, on the other hand, is very wise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to wait until tomorrow to post this since I posted chapter 8 this morning but, like Tinkerbell, I need attention to live. Enjoy :)

Katara and Zuko barely said anything about what had happened on Valentine’s Day. Actually, it seemed as if they both silently agreed as if it never happened to begin with. Though it was not the first time she woke in Zuko’s arms, Katara was becoming more and more confused about her feelings for him. 

First they were acquaintances, a week later they were friends and now they were… something. Katara scolded herself: that’s how relationships work. 

In class, she could feel Mai staring at her, the daggers in her eyes piercing into Katara. Katara did her best to ignore her. Azula, on the other hand, completely ignored Katara. Not that Azula didn’t ignore Katara already, but this time it seemed a little more obvious. When she had to pass papers back, Azula would purposely drop them and make Katara pick them up. If they had to be partners for group work, Azula wouldn’t even talk to her. Katara wondered how bad Zuko’s relationship had to be with Azula if she was acting this way towards her. 

Zuko and Katara continued to hang out during the study block, but Katara found herself wishing they could be alone more often, without the others breathing down their necks. Suki sent her the picture she took of them sleeping and while Katara pretended to be horrified, she secretly loved it. She sent it to Zuko, trying to make a flirtatious joke to gage his feelings towards her, but he sent her back a generic “LOL, see what ‘Twilight’ does!”. Katara almost ripped her hair out. 

Sokka kept pestering her about her feelings for Zuko, and she really didn’t know what to tell him. Katara never had a boyfriend before, and it took her snapping at him before Suki finally stepped in to tell Sokka to knock it off. 

At the beginning of March, she was in her room doing homework after a particularly long shift at work. The others all had too much homework or other commitments so they couldn’t visit her. She was trying to focus on her homework, Halsey’s  _ I HATE EVERYBODY _ blasting through her speaker. It was just how she felt: she hates everybody but she needed to have someone with her. 

Unable to focus any longer, she grabbed her phone. Staring at it in her hand, she made the split decision to FaceTime Zuko. 

The phone rang, her reflection in the camera looking absolutely terrified before Zuko finally answered. His hair was disheveled and it looked like he had been sleeping.

“Hey, Katara,” he said, rubbing his eye. “What’s up?”

“Oh, nothing, just didn’t feel like doing homework,” she said. “Did I wake you up?”

“Uh, actually, yeah,” he replied. “I took a nap. Uncle had me help out at the shop now that it was finally open again and I didn’t feel like starting homework yet.”

“Have you done any of your work?” she asked him, rolling over onto her stomach. 

“No, actually, thanks for reminding me,” he sighed. She watched as the camera moved, Zuko making adjustments to where his phone was placed. “Okay, I have you placed up against my lamp on my desk.”

“Oh,” she said.

“Did you… want to talk and do homework?” Zuko asked her. 

She glanced at her open books on her bed. “Yeah okay.”

Katara rolled back around and sat up. She found an old stuffed animal and leaned her phone up against it. She pulled her work in her lap. 

The two silently worked on their homework, occasionally piping up about something that happened in class. 

“Oh, actually, there was something I wanted to ask you,” Katara said, looking at her phone.

She saw Zuko glance up. “Uh, yeah?”

“Your sister,” she clarified. “She hates me.”

Zuko rolled his eyes. “Yeah, she hates everything that makes me happy. She’s just trying to get a rise out of you, don’t worry.”

Katara let out a breath of relief. “Oh good. Wait… I make you happy?” 

Katara watched as red creeped up Zuko’s neck. “I mean… yeah?”

“Oh.” 

She really didn’t know what to say. 

“Like… like as a friend?”

“Ah,” said Zuko, rubbing the back of his neck. “I mean… I guess?”

Katara’s heart sank a bit. So he didn’t like her the same way.

“You know what, Zuko, I actually have a lot of work to do,” she said, picking up her phone. “I should probably go.”

“Wait, Katara, I -”

“Bye, Zuko.” She hung up, tears stinging her eyes. 

She scrolled through her contacts and found Suki. Suki didn’t take as long to answer the FaceTime call. 

“Legit, was about to call your brother,” Suki told her when she answered the phone. “But your brother can deal. What’s up?”

“Zu-Zuko,” Katara choked out.

“Woah, woah, what happened to Zuko?” Suki asked, her face full of concern. 

“No, nothing happened  _ to  _ Zuko,” she replied, wiping her face. “The problem  _ is  _ Zuko.”

Just as Suki opened her mouth, Sokka burst through the door. “Are you talking to  _ my  _ girlfriend? Excuse me! Suki and I had a FaceTime date.”

Katara glared at him. Suki called out, “Sokka, stop being a little shit and listen to Katara.”

Sokka finally noticed Katara’s tears and sat down on the bed next to her. “What happened, Kat?”

“He doesn’t feel the same way,” she said, bursting into tears again. “He doesn’t.”

“Wait, so you  _ do  _ like him?” asked Sokka.

“ _ Sokka,”  _ Suki snapped. “Kat, how do you know that?” 

“I don’t know, we were talking and I said his sister hates me, and he said that she hates everything that makes him happy, and I asked if I made him happy and then when I asked if it was as a friend he said  _ yes _ .” Katara couldn’t string together a normal sentence. “So that means he only likes me as a friend.” 

“Okay, first of all, everything about what you just said is wrong,” Sokka stated, putting his arm around his sister. “Of  _ course  _ he’s going to say you make him happy as if you’re a friend.”

“Yeah, Kat,” Suki chimed in, “you really never made your feelings for him clear either.” 

“I  _ tried, _ ” she claimed. “I mean, I FaceTimed him to just talk and he just wanted to do homework.”

“Kat, I’m about to ask you a really stupid question,” Sokka said, pulling his arm from around her and placing both hands on her shoulders. “Did you tell him you wanted to talk?” 

“I…” Katara thought about it. “No, I didn’t.”

“Well, there you go,” said Suki. “Listen, you gotta tell you Zuko what you want and not let him play the guessing game. That’s really not fair to him.”

“Listen Katara, there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you,” Sokka said, rubbing the back of his neck. “But you gotta promise you won’t say anything to Zuko?”

Katara stared at her brother and looked at the phone where Suki was making a face. “Katara, I have no idea what he’s talking about.” 

“Promise you won’t freak out and tell Zuko?” Sokka asked, holding his pinky up. Katara looked at it and curled her pinky around Sokka’s. “Okay, well… he asked me if Suki and I were going to prom right?”

“Right…” said Katara.

“I mean, is this you asking me?” Suki teased. 

“Oh, ha ha,” said Sokka, taking the phone from Katara and sticking his tongue out at Suki. “Do you want a cheesy promposal?”

“Nah, those are stupid, I’m just happy we’re-”

“Okay!” Katara interrupted, taking the phone back from Sokka. “Sokka, your point.”

“Oh yeah, right,” Sokka said. “Okay, so he asked if Suki and I were going to prom, and obviously I told him yes, right?”

Katara nodded, as did Suki on the phone.

“Well,” he continued, waving his hand for emphasis, “he said he was thinking of going, but he didn’t have a date.”

“He can just bring  _ Mai, _ ” Katara spat out.

Sokka looked at her. “Katara… he asked if it would be weird if he asked  _ you. _ ”

Katara’s heart stopped. “He.. he what?”

“I KNEW IT!” yelled Suki, making Katara jump. “He told me the other day he felt bad that you didn’t want to go to your own prom. I thought it was kind of weird, but actually now that I think about it…”

“Well, yeah, he was thinking of asking you,” Sokka stated, shrugging his shoulders. “I told him to go for it. I also may have told him you might have feelings for him, but I could not confirm that.”

“SOKKA!” both girls yelled out. Sokka laughed and ran out the room. 

Katara shook her head and looked back at Suki. “So what do I do now?” 

“Uh, talk to him dummy,” Suki answered. “Don’t tell him what you know, but definitely tell him how you feel.”

Katara sat back against her pillows. “Yeah… okay…”

“Great,” said Suki, “now, go text him so I can go yell at my stupid boyfriend.”

“Okay,” sighed Katara, “I’ll do that. Give Sokka a piece of my mind for me, okay?”

“You got it, Kat.” Suki hung up. As soon as she did, a text from Zuko came in.

_ Z > So.. I feel like you’re mad at me  _

_ Z > and I think I know why, but like… can we talk? _

Katara took a deep breath.

_ K > yeah we can. But not over text. Can we talk tomorrow? _

_ Z > yeah. Tomorrow. My uncle’s shop is open, would you want to come? _

Katara glanced at her calendar. She had work until 6:30 tomorrow, but she also had the car.

_ K > Okay. text me the address, I’ll be there by 7.  _

Katara put her phone down before she could even read Zuko’s answer. Her heart was beating out of her chest as she tried to focus on her homework again. She tried for ten minutes before calling it quits and just going to bed.

That night, she dreamt of her mom.


	10. now or never

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara and Zuko work out their ~feelings~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, thank you all for the comments and kudos! You all make me so happy!!

The whole school day, Katara tried to keep her meeting with Zuko in the back of her mind, but she could not concentrate no matter how hard she tried. Study block, it seemed like Zuko was avoiding her because he did not join her in the library at their usual table. Katara tried not to take it personally, especially since she was the one mad at him. Still, at one point she passed him in the hall and her heart flipped when he gave her a small smile. 

Azula was still being Azula, but Katara really didn’t care at this point. She just wanted school to be over already. After Spanish, she picked up some of Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee’s conversation.

“Really, I can’t believe Zuzu would say no,” Azula stated, shooting a pointed glance at Katara. “I mean, really now?”

“Azula, it’s fine,” Mai muttered, “I don’t really care. He broke up with me months ago, I just thought he’d want to hang out with us at prom that’s all.”

“Does Zuko not like us anymore?” Ty Lee asked. “Man, that’s not nice.”

Katara walked by quickly, pretending she didn’t hear. She hated drama, and here she was right in the middle of it. All he did was introduce himself to her while she was at work at Starbucks. What kind of romantic comedy bullshit was this? 

When school was finally over, Sokka came to her locker and handed her the keys to the car. He was getting a ride to hockey practice from a teammate. 

“Let me know how things go with Zuko, will ya?” he said. “If I have to beat his ass I will.”

“Thanks, Sokka,” she replied, taking the keys and heading out to the car. Getting in, she plugged her phone into the aux cord and cranked Halsey up as loud as she could. 

At work, she tried to distract herself from the time as much as possible.

“Okay, girl, what’s going on,” Yue asked her, sliding up next to her against the counter when the last customer in line finally left. “You’re jumpy and distracted.” 

“It’s nothing,” muttered Katara. 

“No, it’s not nothing,” Yue told her. “Usually you’re happy and bubbly, or pacing around the floor because you’re bored. The past week you had been gushing about Zuko. What happened?” 

Katara sighed. “Neither of us know how to talk about feelings, that’s what happened.” 

Yue studied the younger girl a bit before gently placing a hand on her shoulder. “Listen, want to know why I broke it off with your brother?”

“I don’t know… do I?” Katara asked. 

“It’s because  _ I  _ didn’t know what the hell I wanted,” Yue explained. “I really liked Sokka, but I also didn’t know if I wanted to be tied down to one guy. I didn’t know how to tell Sokka what I liked or what I needed, despite that fact that he was so,  _ so  _ good to me.”

“So you just… ended it?” 

“Yeah, I did,” Yue replied, sighing. “Because he’s a great guy and he deserves to be with someone who knows what they want and when they want it.”

“I guess so,” said Katara thoughtfully. “So I just need to tell Zuko what I want?”

“Yep,” Yue confirmed nodding her head. “It’s that easy. Now get back to work before boss man walks out of the office and yells at us.”

Yue took her hand off Katara's shoulder and handed her the mop leaning up against the wall. Katara took it and walked away, her mind running through what Yue told her. Yue told her exactly what Sokka told her the night before. So she just needed to tell Zuko she liked him. Easy right? 

At 6:30, Haru came in to replace her. As she walked out from behind the counter, he stopped her.

“Hey, uh, Katara,” he said. “I had a question for you.”

Katara saw Yue perk up from the table she was cleaning.

“What’s up, Haru?” Katara asked, fidgeting with her keys in her hands, trying not to think about the time ticking away. 

“So, uh, you know… prom,” Haru stammered, scratching his head slightly. “It’s… coming…” 

Katara stared at him, her mouth slightly ajar.  _ Is he trying to ask her to prom?  _

“Yeah, and uh, dates are needed, and I’m friends with your brother,” Haru continued as Katara kept staring, unable to break the awkward conversation. “Uh… date?”

Katara felt herself blush more than she ever thought she could blush. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Yue snort slightly. 

“Ah, well that wasn’t really smooth, but what I was trying to ask was-”

“No.” Katara said before she could stop herself. “No, Haru, I’m sorry.”

Now it was Haru’s turn to blush. He began stammering, finally breaking eye contact with her. “Ah, um, okay, well… hmm, not how I was expecting this to go…” 

“Well, you know…” Katara replied. “I just… yeah. No. Sorry. 

They stared at each other awkwardly, Katara desperate to make a break for it. 

“It’s because of him, isn’t it?” Haru asked her, staring at his feet.

She knew who Haru was talking about, she didn’t need to ask to explain himself further. And, honestly, Haru knew her answer. 

“Yeah, okay, that’s what I thought,” he sighed. “Uh, well, have a good night.”

Haru shuffled off awkwardly, making his way to the back room. Yue sidled up to Katara. 

“Think if I drop enough hints, he’d ask me?” Yues asked her, bumping Katara’s hip with her own.

Katara gave a small laugh. “Do it. Now I gotta go, I’m meeting Zuko.”

Yue gave Katara a quick squeeze on the shoulder before pushing her towards the exit. Katara ran out to her car, fumbling with the keys. She keyed in the address Zuko gave her into her GPS and scrolled through her Spotify playlist to find something to pump her up. She settled for  _ My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)  _ by Fall Out Boy before peeling her way out of the parking lot and onto the road. 

She tried not to think of her heart pounding in her chest, or how her palms were sweaty against the steering wheel. She ignored the rushing of blood in her ears and instead tried to focus on Patrick Stump yelling through the speaker. Is she even sure he likes her back? Maybe Sokka was pulling her leg last night, telling her an elaborate joke just to try and make her happy. 

With every turn, she tried to squash down her feelings of anxiety. Silly Katara, he’s just a stupid boy. This isn’t the worst thing that will happen to you. It was then she wished her mother was still alive. 

When she got to the street, she looked around at the shops nestled together. The road was one Katara, Suki, and Toph frequented. It was home to little cafes and boutiques the girls liked to adventure through. Katara never knew Zuko’s uncle owned the tiny tea shop nestled in the corner. With a pang in her chest, Katara recognized it as the one she and Suki tried out back in October when they were out shopping for their Halloween costumes. As she thought of the memory, she thought of the cashier who served her. A tall, lanky boy, with black hair and a scar.  _ Zuko.  _

She drove down the street, finding a place to park just down the street from the shop. It was exactly 7:00. Gripping the wheel, she took a couple of shaky breaths before unplugging her phone from the aux cord, stopping Green Day’s  _ Still Breathing  _ in the middle of her favorite verse. She stared ahead and opened the door. Slowly, she made her way to the shop, opening the door where a light  _ ting  _ of the bell greeted her. 

Iroh was behind the cash register, counting out the bills. He glanced up when he heard the bell, his smile widening when he saw Katara. “Ah, Katara! Zuko told me you were coming.”

Katara made her way to the counter, giving him a tight smile, hoping he couldn’t read her anxiety. “Yeah, we’re just… meeting.”

Iroh’s eyes twinkled, as placed the money back into the register. “Well, what can I get for you, Katara? I know you work at Starbucks, but let me get you some  _ real  _ tea. And some left over scones, since we have a few that didn’t make it to close.”

“Oh, no, you don’t-”

“I insist!” Iroh stated, holding his hands up to stop her. He studied her a bit before smiling again. “I will get you a nice warm cup of lemon balm tea and a scone. How does that sound?”

Katara felt her stomach growl. “It does sound pretty good…”

“Wonderful!” Now go sit down, I will tell Zuko you are here. And don’t try to pay me, I will not accept.” Iroh said, motioning her towards a booth. 

Sighing, Katara sat at the booth Iroh was indicating, throwing her purse to the side. Quickly, she pulled her phone out of her bag to see texts from both Suki and Sokka.

_ Suki > TELL HIM EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT. But also, I will not hesitate to kick his ass _

_ Sokka > sis, i swear to all the spirits, if you mess this up and i lose zuko as my new best friend i might actually cry _

_ Sokka > oh, and good luck i guess  _

Katara laughed so hard at Sokka’s texts that she didn’t realize someone approaching her until he cleared his throat.

She looked up, Zuko standing next to the booth, a cup in one hand and a plate of scones in the other. 

“Uh, my Uncle told me these were for you,” he said, holding up the cup and the plate.

“Oh, yeah,” she replied. 

He placed the two in front of her, standing there awkwardly as though not knowing what to do. Katara was sick of boys not knowing shit.

“Zuko, you can sit,” she told him, motioning to the seat across from her. She saw him visibly relax before sliding into the seat across from her. Katara picked up the cup of tea, taking a sip. She was met with a delicious lemon flavor, honey dripping throughout. “Oh, wow, this is  _ so  _ good.”

Zuko smiled at her, fidgeting with his hands. “Uh, yeah, Iroh is, like, really good with tea. What did he get you?”

“Lemon balm, I’m pretty sure,” she said, taking another sip.

“Ah, for anxiety and stress,” Zuko smirked. “Cheeky old man.” 

Katara bit her lip. She eyed the scones before reaching over and taking one. Taking a bite, she gasped slightly. “Holy shit, this is great!”

“You like it?” Zuko asked her When she nodded, he smiled slightly. “I made those.”

“No!” she exclaimed. “You’re super smart and you cook? Zuko you are a jack of all trades, aren’t you?” 

She watched as red slowly crept up his neck like it usually does when he’s embarrassed. 

“So, uh,” Zuko started, “I wanted to talk to you about something.” 

“It’s why I’m here, isn’t it?” she asked, opening her palm and waving in the general direction of the seating area of the shop, which was empty. 

“Right, right, yeah,” he stammered, pinching his nose a bit. “So, last night, was uh, well… Listen, Kat, I’m, like, really bad at sharing my feelings.”

“Really,” she smirked, “I had  _ no  _ idea.”

She was being mean, and she really couldn’t say why. 

“I mean, it’s why I broke up with Mai,” he continued, “We both suck at feelings and while she’s awesome, she’s a straight up enigma.”

He shook his head a bit and looked at Katara, who stuck her chin out, telling him to continue. 

“That night at Suki’s, that was the first time I felt like I had really  _ friends,  _ and not just my little sister’s friends. I felt like I was finally part of something, you know?”

Katara nodded, taking another sip of her tea, her heart steadily starting to pound again. Cheeky old man, indeed. 

“And then I told you about my dad, which like I said, was the first time I told someone the whole story besides my Uncle.” He took a deep breath. “Katara, you’re the first person I feel like I can be vulnerable to. I poured my heart out to you and you didn’t judge me. You didn’t feel sorry for me. You just… treated me like me. Does that make sense?” 

“I guess so,” she replied. 

He reached over the table and took her hand in his. Katara was surprised by how warm it was. 

“So, you know, when I said you make me happy…” Zuko paused. He looked her in the eyes, as if begging her to put the pieces together herself. When she didn’t say anything, he kept going. “Kat, you make me  _ so  _ happy. Happier than I’ve felt in a long time. I mean, I thought I knew what happiness was, but… depression does that to a person.” 

He gave a dark chuckle. 

“You think everything is okay because you have no idea what okay really is, and then when things turn to shit… well, things turn to shit,” he said. “But, Kat, being with you and everyone else? I feel.. Better. Like things won’t go terrible, and that everything in my life will work out. I was being social, I kept my grades up, hell, I found myself looking forward to every morning as opposed to dreading it. You have no idea what all of you did for me. You, Sokka, Suki, Toph, and Aang. You guys welcomed me into your group so quickly, I felt like I was intruding at first, but you guys made it so clear you wanted me, and it felt so good. Iroh keeps going  _ on  _ about this.”

Katara felt all her anger, her anxieties, melt away from her. She squeezed Zuko’s hand. “Zuko, hearing you say that… I just… thank you.” 

He nodded a bit, pulling his hand away from her. 

“Last night, when you asked me if you made me happy as a friend,” he began, rubbing the back of his neck, “I mean… you  _ do  _ make me happy as a friend. But.. there’s more.” 

“Zuko, before you continue,” said Katara, “I just.. Last night was my fault too.”

“What do you mean?” he asked her, raising his eyebrow.

“Well, I called you because I wanted to just… talk,” she replied. “Not do homework, but actually have a conversation. Tell stories about our day. Tell each other our favorite colors and pizza toppings. I don’t know… just… be teenagers.”

Zuko looked at her, his eyebrow now furrowed in concentration. He squinted at her a bit, as if trying to figure out what to say. 

“In the couple months we’ve been hanging out, I learned so much about you,” she continued. “Like you said, you opened up to me in more ways than one, and I found myself slowly opening up to you. I guess I…”

“You guess you...?” he asked. “What?” 

“I developed feelings.”

There she said it. It was out in the open and now Zuko knew. He looked at her a little more, Katara feeling herself slowly unravel.

“Can you please say something?” she begged. 

“Kat,” he said finally, a grin slowly creeping on his face, “I developed feelings too.” 

She blinked. “Oh.”

“Yeah. Oh.”

They sat there staring at each other, warmth spreading through Katara. 

“So now what?” she asked him. “I never really did this before…”

Zuko grinned, grabbing her hand once again. “I’m a bit rusty, honestly. But there was something else I’ve been meaning to talk to you about.”

Katara knew what he was going to say. But she wanted to hear him tell her himself, and noth through Sokka. “Yeah?”

“Uh, well, you know, prom is coming up,” he said, “and I know you don’t want to go to your own prom because of everyone else but… would like to come with me to senior prom? You know, you’ll have Sokka and Suki there, and I think it would be fun and -”

“Yes,” she said. “Yes, I will go with you to prom.” 

His smile widened. “Okay, great. I, uh, yeah.”

“Oh wow, you really are rusty,” Katara teased, releasing her hand from his grip. She got up from her side of the booth and slid into his side next to him. She was sitting on his left side, facing his scar. Tentatively, she brought her lips to his cheek, her lips brushing part of his scar. He didn’t say anything, but his hand found her knee under the table and squeezed. 

“So what now?” Zuko asked, looking at her.

“Want to go on a date?” 

“Yeah,” he replied, sliding his arm around her, “yeah I would.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHERE DO HIGH SCHOOLERS GO ON DATES IN MARCH? SOMEONE HELP!!


	11. drive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> FIRST DATE, FIRST DATE!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to everyone whom commented about where Katara and Zuko could go on a first date! I included all ideas as they tried to decide, and then tried to include as much as I could. Hope you all enjoy :)

Suki was over the moon when Katara updated her on her meeting with Zuko. Unsurprisingly, she wanted Katara to tell her every last detail, every word said, every movement. Sokka, on the other hand, was just relieved he could keep Zuko around a bit longer.

“What?” he asked her, sitting on her floor, scrolling through his phone as Katara and Suki sat on FaceTime. “He’s good at AP physics and he’s got excellent music taste. Sue me.”

Still, Katara’s heart was soaring for the remainder of the week. She and Suki quickly made plans to go prom dress shopping, even inviting Toph to go with them even if, as she pointed out, she wouldn’t be able to compliment. Suki, on the other hand, called it a girls’ day, which Toph reluctantly agreed to. Though even Toph had to admit she was pretty psyched for Katara. 

Zuko and Katara decided to make their first official date for Saturday. Never having been in a relationship before, Katara told Zuko that he could choose what they could do, but they went back and forth trying to come up with ideas: movies and dinner, bowling, running around the library, arcade? Katara’s head was spinning with the different possibilities; she never knew planning a first date could be so stressful. Suki mentioned the skating pond in the outdoor shopping area downtown and stated that maybe skating could be a fun idea. Plus, as Suki pointed out, there were plenty of cafes and stores the two could wander around once they finished. Katara mentioned it to Zuko who happily agreed. 

The rest of the week flew by and Saturday was there before she knew it. All day Katara paced around the house, unable to squash her bundle of nerves. Gran Gran kept telling her to sit and relax, that everything would be fine, and Sokka just kept throwing various pillows at her to make her stop. At 3:30, she FaceTimed Suki to try and help her pick out an outfit and at 5:00, she was getting into her car to go pick up Zuko. 

She pulled up to Zuko’s house and beeped the horn, lowering her music ( _ Stay Frosty Royal Milk Tea  _ by Fall Out Boy) as Zuko got in the car and buckled his seatbelt.

“Thanks for driving, by the way,” he told her as Katara pulled away from the curb. “I know the guy is technically supposed to do that, but uh, I don’t drive so...”

Katara gave a small wave of her hand as she looked both ways at an intersection. “No worries, Zuko. I’m happy to drive. Do you mind me asking, though, how come you don’t drive?”

“Well, I have my license,” he explained, “but since I lost 75% of my sight in my left eye, driving gives me way too much anxiety. Like, what if I’m trying to merge on the highway and I can’t see an oncoming car and I get hit? My depth perception is so off, I just would rather not risk it.”

“Oh, that makes sense,” Katara replied. “I don’t blame you honestly, I can never imagine that.”

Zuko shrugged. “It happens. I mean, I’ll still drive if Uncle needs me to, but I only stay in town on roads where looking left won’t be too much trouble.”

“Mmm,” Katara hummed, tapping her fingers on the steering wheel. Hozier’s  _ Almost (Sweet Music)  _ was now playing. “Hey, let me know if you want something different to listen to, okay?”

“Nah, this is fine,” Zuko replied. “I like listening to other people’s music. Kind of gives you an idea of what kind of person they are, you know?”

Katara nodded, smiling slightly. “So, what kind of music do you listen to when you’re alone?”

They two continued talking about their various music tastes, Zuko a fan of the emo brand, which did not surprise Katara one bit. They both realized they were both big fans of Fall Out Boy and began gushing over their favorite albums. Katara’s was ‘American Beauty / American Psycho’, while Zuko’s was ‘Folie a Deux’, which turned into a heated debate on the different music styles of the two albums. Zuko also figured out Katara was the  _ biggest  _ Halsey fan, and didn’t even blink when she told him she also loved Hozier and Harry Styles. 

“See,” he told her, as Katara was pulling into a parking spot, “window to the soul.” 

Katara laughed as she cut the engine and the two got out, making their way to the outdoor ice rink. It was cold, and Katara huddled herself closer to Zuko. He looked down at her and then tentatively took her hand in his, fingers lacing into each other. Katara’s heart swooned. 

When they reached the ticket booth, the two paid for their skates and struggled to get them on, Katara laughing when Zuko almost punched himself in his good eye when trying to pull on his own skate. They made their way onto the ice wobbling, grasping each other’s hands and laughing. 

They made their way around the ice, struggling to keep each other up, though doubling over in laughter definitely didn’t help. Katara did a couple of spins, Zuko giving applause and whistling, and then promptly fell over on her ass, much to everyone’s amusement. Zuko tried to help her back up, but being unsteady himself, also fell over onto his ass. The two sat there, pointing and laughing at each other, other couples skating by and looking at them. Helping each other up, they tried to go around a few more times without falling.

“Man, I’ve never done this before,” Zuko stated, grabbing on to Katara’s arm. “I used to  _ beg  _ my mom when she was around, but she was worried we’d get hurt.”

“I used to do this all the time with Sokka and Gran Gran!” Katara replied, holding Zuko up. “Well, Sokka and I would skate, Gran Gran would watch us in the stands.”

“I was about to ask if Sokka was any good at skating,” Zuko said, “but then I remembered he’s on the hockey team.”

Katara laughed. “Yeah, I think he’s pretty good.”

They held onto each other’s hands, going around a few more times talking and laughing. Being here with Zuko, Katara felt the happiest she’s been in a while. She squeezed Zuko’s hand, looking up at him, his face scrunched with concentration. With a pang, Katara thought of how badly she wished she could tell her mom about Zuko.

“Hey, so I think my legs are going to fall off,” Zuko said just as he lost his balance and grabbed onto Katara for support. “Want to get food?”

Katara nodded, helping Zuko back up. They carefully made their way off the ice, took off their skates, and walked around the little outdoor area hand in hand. 

As they walked, they passed by a small bookstore. 

“Hey, wait, can we go in here real quick?” Zuko asked her, pausing in front of the window and looking in. “I have a weird thing for old books.”

“Oh my god,  _ Zuko _ ,” Katara laughed, already opening the door, “you are  _ such  _ a cliche.”

Zuko laughed and led Katara down the aisles stacked with book shelves. He pulled a couple out to look through them, commenting on some of his favorite ones. At one point, he pulled out a collection of Edgar Allan Poe’s works.

“Oh, wow, Poe!” Zuko exclaimed, flipping through the book. “Man, I love Poe, he’s the best.”

“What’s your favorite work by Poe?” Katara asked him. Watching his eyes light up as he read over a few pages sent butterflies right to her stomach.

“ _ Annabel Lee, _ ” Zuko replied. “‘I was a child, and she was a child, in this kingdom by the sea. And we loved with a love, that was more than a love, I and my Annabel Lee’.” 

Katara blinked. “Did you just quote that by heart?”

“Uh, yeah,” Zuko replied, blushing slightly. “It was my mom’s favorite poem too actually.” 

Katara watched Zuko as he got back to looking through the books. The book of Poe’s work was set to the side, intending to be purchased when he was done. Zuko handed Katara another book:  _ Great Expectations  _ by Charles Dickens.

“Another classic,” Zuko stated. “I read it right after I moved in with Uncle Iroh. For some reason, I really related to Pip.”

“I think I might buy it,” Katara said, flipping through it. 

“How come?” Zuko asked her.

Katra shrugged. “I mean, if you love it so much, I want to read it. Books are just as much a window to the soul as music, you know.”

Before she knew what was happening, Zuko leaned in and kissed her. The kiss was not unwelcome, but it caught Katara off guard, causing her to jump. Zuko pulled away, his face red.

“I, uh, well,” he stammered, “sorry, that was uncalled for.”

“No, no,” Katara replied, her face almost as red as Zuko’s. “I just wasn’t expecting it.”

“Ah, yeah, well, that was definitely not how I planned out our first kiss in my head,” Zuko stated, taking a step back. 

“You planned it out?” Katara asked, starting to giggle a bit. That was  _ so  _ Zuko.

“I mean, yeah,” Zuko teased, “I like to be ready.”

Katara giggled some more. “That’s fair.”

He watched her a bit before coming in closer again. “I’d like to kiss you again. Maybe when you’re expecting it?”

She stopped giggling and looked up at him, the butterflies in her stomach flying around so much she couldn’t focus. Her first kiss, her first  _ real  _ kiss. “Yeah, I would like to kiss you again too.”

He leaned down towards her as she went up on her tiptoes. Zuko had wrapped his arm around her waist, bringing her closer to him as he kissed her slowly. As he was kissing her, she realized she had no idea what to do with her hands, so she put them around Zuko’s neck, hoping he wouldn’t sense her inexperience. When they broke apart, they stared at each other before collapsing into a fit of laughter.

“I don’t know why this is so funny,” Katara said, trying to regain her composure.

“Oh I don’t know,” said Zuko, holding on to his side, “just that we’re in the middle of a bookstore and I screwed up our first kiss.”

“Zuko, it was perfect,” Katara assured him. “Now, can we buy our books, and get food? I’m starving.”

When she dropped Zuko off at home about two hours later, he leaned over the center console, giving her another soft kiss. Katara did all she could to not burst into flames then and there. She watched as he made his way to the front door, turning around and giving her a wave before opening the door.

Before she could even drive off, Katara put her hands over her face and screamed a bit. Just  _ wait  _ until she tells Sokka! 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If ANYONE was wondering my ranking of FOB albums, they are as such: Folie a Deux, American Beauty / American Psycho, Infinity on High, MANIA, Save Rock and Roll, From Under the Cork Tree, and Take This To Your Grave. 
> 
> If you weren't wondering, then you get this about me anyways.


	12. walls could talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara tells Sokka about her first date with Zuko. Told from Sokka's POV.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just really needed to have some Katara and Sokka bonding time, but Sokka is so fun to write and someone suggested his POV, so here it is! It's also wicked short (like 550 words) because, you know, brothers and sisters just be like that sometimes.

Sokka was sitting in the living room, laying on the couch watching ‘Queer Eye’ on Netflix. People can judge him all they want, but that show is  _ good  _ and he will not stand for slander. Plus, he lowkey wished he had the same style as Tan France. Just as the episode was getting to the good part, Katara burst into the room, pretty much screaming. Sokka jumped and paused the show.

“Sokka, oh my god, Sokka!!” she yelled, flinging herself on the couch. “Sokka, I need to - wait are you watching ‘Queer Eye’ without me?”

“What, no!” Sokka replied, turning the TV off and turning to his sister. “Okay, what happened, tell me everything.”

Katara grabbed a pillow and squealed into it before gaining her composure back. Sokka hadn’t seen her this happy in a long time. He was also pretty honored she chose to tell him about everything first. Then again, he and Katara were really close and she was usually the first person he told about everything that happened in his life.

“Kat, you need to speak!” Sokka teased, grabbing the pillow from her and hitting her with it. “So, you went ice skating, right? How did that go?” 

“Yes! We did!” she said. “It reminded me of the times we would go with mom.”

“So it was fun?”

“So fun! We both fell so many times, but it was  _ so  _ worth it,” Katara gushed. “We held hands and skated around a few times, and we talked a lot.”

“Okay, good,” Sokka replied, nodding. Hearing her so happy was the absolute best.

“Then, we decided to get food, but first we stopped in a small book store,” Katara continued.

“A bookstore, Katara,” Sokka teased, giving her a little kick, “you guys are  _ nerds _ .”

“Shush, Sokka! Let me speak!” she said, kicking him back. “He wanted to just look at the books. It was actually really nice. He told me about all his favorite authors.”

“Neeeerds,” Sokka repeated. “So that was fun?”

Yes! Oh, and, uh, well…”

“Kat… what happened?”

“He  _ kissed  _ me!” 

“WHAT! Kissing on the first date?” Sokka said, pretending to be scandalized. Katara hit him with a pillow. “Do you want to tell me about it?”

“Uh, not really,” Katara replied, blushing a bit, “but, just wanted you to know he did in fact kiss me.”

Sokka punched the air. “Hell yeah, Zuko! Killing the game!”

_ “Sokka _ ,” Katara said, “excuse me!”

“Okay, okay, continue,” Sokka replied. 

“Okay, and  _ then  _ we went to this little cafe where we got hot chocolate and had these really good macaroons,” Katara continued. “And we just sat and talked and… yeah. It was really nice.”

“You know what, sis, I’m really happy for you,” Sokka told her. And he was. Katara deserved something good to happen to her. She’s so damn busy all the time, and Sokka knew Zuko would be that light for her. 

“Thanks, Sokka,” she said, grinning at him. “Okay, before I call Suki, I need you to turn the TV on and restart the episode. I can’t  _ believe  _ you watched ‘Queer Eye’ without me!”

Sokka laughed and turned the TV back on, restarting the episode just as Katara said.


	13. hurricane

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suki, Katara, and Toph go prom dress shopping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a hot minute since I've gone prom dress shopping so I do apologize if this chapter lacks lol

“So, what are we thinking?” Suki asked Katara as the two girls strolled up and down the aisles of their local dress shop. “Are we thinking cute, sexy, hot, slutty?”

Katara glanced at the multitude of dresses surrounding her, trying to figure it all out. She watched as Toph slid her hand along the racks, occasionally grabbing a dress and rubbing the fabric between her fingers. The younger girl, though she complained the whole way over, seemed to be oddly enjoying herself.

“Honestly, Suki, I’m really not sure,” Katara stated. “I mean, definitely  _ not  _ slutty, but something nice?”

“Listen, Sugar Queen, as long as you’re comfortable, that’s all that matters,” Toph replied, grabbing another dress and feeling it. “Hm, this one seems soft. What color is it?”

“Ugh,  _ pink _ ,” Suki replied, causing Toph to drop the dress in disgust. “No way do I want pink.”

Katara nodded her head in agreement. Leaving Toph and Suki to talk, Katara went down another aisle, trying to decide which dresses to try on. Earlier she cried to Sokka, wishing she had her mother here to help her, and Sokka tried his best to comfort her, but he didn’t do well. It took Gran Gran pulling her into her arms and squeezing her until she couldn’t breathe for her to finally calm down. She promised Gran Gran she would model the dress for her later, as well as take a picture for her dad who was on the road once more. 

She felt along the fabrics, just as Toph was doing, feeling them in her hands to determine if they were even worth trying on. As she told Suki, she had no idea what she was looking for.

“Hey, Kat?” came Suki’s voice from the next aisle over. “Kat, where did you go?”

“Over here,” Katara called back. Suki and Toph made their way into the aisle, Suki’s arms full of dresses. “Oh, wow, that was fast.”

“To be fair, I have done this before,” replied the older girl, shifting the dresses in her arms a bit. “You, on the other hand, have not.”

An associate made her way to the girls and offered to take the dresses from Suki to put in a dressing room, which Suki quickly agreed to. 

“Okay, Toph, let’s help Katara,” Suki said, now shifting through the dresses in this aisle. She pulled out three dresses and shoved them into Katara’s hands.

“Well that was… fast,” Katara marveled, studying the dresses in her arms. “How did you do that?”

Suki shrugged. “Like I said, I’m an expert. Now, let’s get to the fitting room and try these on.”

In the fitting room, Toph took a seat on the chair in between Katara's and Suki’s respectable fitting rooms. She lounged back, placing her hands behind her head. 

“Okay, make sure you do your best to describe,” Toph stated. 

“Will do,” the two replied in unison.

Katara stood in her own fitting room, staring at the three dressed Suki handed her. She had no idea which one to try on first. She shrugged out of her jacket, took off her shirt, and ripped off her leggings. Doing a quick game of eeny meeny miny moe, Katara took down the strapless light blue dress off the hanger. She stared at the dress in her hand: the tule of the skirt made it bigger and it was conservative enough for her. Katara unzipped the dress and stepped into it easily, pulling it up to her chest. The zipper was in the back, so she couldn’t reach it.

“Hey, Suki,” Katara called, “I need help.”

“Hold on,” answered Suki, “I’m getting mine on.”

Katara stepped out of the dressing room, holding up the dress the best she could. Suki opened the curtain of her own room, and stepped out. Katara couldn’t help but gasp.

Suki was wearing a plain black dress. The dress was strapless and fell on her figure nicely. 

“Suki, you look  _ good _ ,” Katara stated.

“Thanks, Kat!” Suki replied, beaming. “Okay, turn.”

Katara turned around and Suki zipped up the dress. She stared at herself in the three way mirror, trying to get a feel for the dress. It looked good enough on her, but, she thought, it was too plain.

“Hmmm, these are both nice, but they don’t  _ pop _ , you know?” Sui said, posing in the mirror. “Here, Toph, feel this dress.”

Toph reached out to the piece Suki held out to her. “Hm, feels soft enough. Not sure it would last a night though.”

“Yeah, I agree,” Suki nodded. “Kat, what do you think of yours?”

Katara modeled just as Suki did. “I want to try on another one.”

So the two girls went back to the dressing room. Next time they came out, Katara was wearing a dark blue dress that had a deep V neck and Suki was in a simple red dress. 

“High heels! Red dress!” sang Suki, posing. “Nope, not this one. Katara, that one makes your boobs look great though. What do you think?”

Katara shook her head. “Nope.”

“Damn, I grabbed two blue ones because of your eyes,” Suki replied. “Like, they both looked  _ good  _ but they weren’t you, huh?”

“Right,” replied Katara, going back into her dressing room. She stared at the last dress hanging up. It was red, but a much darker red than the one Suki tried on. It had a simple halter top, the skirt was nice and silky. Sighing, Katara slipped it over her head and stepped out to the mirror where Suki was already modeling her own dress.

When Suki turned to face Katara, she whistled. “Phew, Kat, that looks great.”

“Yeah?” she glanced at herself in the mirror. She had to admit, she did look really good. It brought out her dark skin tone as well as her hair. It fell on her nicely, too. “Hm, yeah, I really like this.”

“Describe it to me,” Toph said. Suki quickly described the dress, and Toph nodded. “Hm, sounds good to me.”

Katara looked at Suki who was now wearing a strapless dark green dress that was decorated with a black pattern along the bottom of the skirt. “Ohh, Suki, that looks so good.”

“You think so?” Suki asked, turning in the mirror. “Yeah, you’re right, this looks dope.” 

Toph and Katara snickered. Suki was never one to play down her looks. 

“So, you guys getting them?” Toph asked. 

Katara looked at the price tag: only $150. Perfect, as she only had a $250 limit. “Yep.”

“Same,” replied Suki. 

The two girls quickly changed and paid for their dresses. Outside the shop, the three girls tried to decide what to do. 

“Man, I’m  _ hungry, _ ” Tohp stated. “Can we get something to eat?”

“You’re starting to sound like Sokka,” Suki teased, poking Toph in the arm. 

“That’s not a bad thing,” muttered Toph. Suki pretended not to hear.

Katara glanced around the street, trying to decide what to do. It was cold out, and she wanted to get back inside quickly. It was then she remembered Iroh’s tea shop was down the road.

“Oh, I know! Let’s drop these off in the car, and then head over to Zuko’s uncle’s tea shop,” Katara suggested. “It’s right down the street.”

“Sounds good to me,” replied Suki, Toph nodding along next to her.

They quickly ran to Suki’s car and carefully placed the dresses in the back seat before turning back around and walking to Iroh’s. 

When they walked in, Iroh glanced up from where he was at the counter and gave the girls a warm smile.

“Why, if it isn’t some wonderful ladies,” he said, his eyes sparkling. “What shall I get you girls?”

They quickly ordered and paid, and sat down at one of the empty booths. As they sat gossiping and laughing, Zuko made his way over, his hands full of drinks and food.

“All right,” he said, handing the girls their order, “here you ladies go.”

“Thanks, Sparky!” said Toph, stuffing her face with food. 

“Yeah, thanks,” replied Suki.

“Want to join us a bit?” Katara asked, moving over to make room. Zuko glanced back at his uncle who gave a small nod before sliding in next to her.

“So, how was shopping,” Zuko asked them.

“Ugh, boring,” replied Toph. “I mean, how can I even compliment them. I have no idea what any of you look like!”

Katara, Suki, and Zuko laughed. 

“Okay, it was kind of fun though,” Toph stated, “I like listening to how you guys describe everything.”

“So did you girls find anything?” he asked them.

“Well, I got-” Katara started.

“Oh no!” Suki interrupted. “Nope, you’re not allowed to tell him anything about it. Only the color.”

Zuko looked at Katara, his eyebrow raised. Katara just shrugged and took a bite of her scone. 

“Ah, okay then,” Zuko said, “so what do I tell Sokka? Apparently I was supposed to get intel.”

Suki wagged her finger at Zuko who laughed. “Naughty boys, conspiring against us girls.”

“Don’t worry, Zuko, I can tell you everything you need to know,” Toph told him.

“Hey, thanks, Toph, that- hey wait a minute!” Zuko hit his hand to his forehead. “You got me, you finally got me.”

Suki and Katara laughed as Toph sat there smirking. Zuko shook his head.

“Well, I should get back to work. See you girls later.” He gave Katara a quick kiss on the cheek and got up, making his way to the counter.

“Girl, he’s got it  _ bad _ ,” said Suki, grinning widely. “Like, so bad.”

Katara blushed and took a spit of tea. “He is great isn’t he?”

Suki nodded in agreement. “You are one lucky girl.”

Katara turned around to look at Zuko, who was now ringing in another customer. He looked up at her and gave her a small smile, causing Katara to turn to mush.

“And you got it just as bad,” Suki stated, leaning over the table and giving a pat on the shoulder. “Just wait until he sees you in that dress.”


	14. gasoline

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara already knows pretty much all she should know about Zuko's past. That is, until Azula thinks so otherwise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a trigger warning for references of domestic and child abuse.

The news that Katara and Zuko were dating spread around the junior and senior classes like wildfire. Katara wasn’t even sure how it happened exactly, except that one day Jin and On Ji stopped Katara before student government started to talk to her about it.

“ _ You’re  _ dating  _ Zuko _ ? Zuko Comet?” On Ji asked her, leaning over on her desk nearly knocking over Katara’s water bottle. “Since  _ when _ ?”

“Yeah, Katara, we didn’t even know you knew each other!” Jin exclaimed. 

Katara resisted rolling her eyes, as she grabbed her water bottle closer to her. “It’s really none of your business honestly.”

“Please, Katara!” On Ji begged. “We want to know every detail!”

“ _ No _ ,” Katara snapped. “Can you go sit down so we can start this meeting, please?”

On Ji and Jin pouted but made their way over to their own desks where their junior class president started the meeting. Katara tried to take as many notes as she could, but she was still fuming about what happened. Who cares if she was dating Zuko? What does it matter? She already had to deal with Haru giving her the cold shoulder at work, she didn’t need the junior girls breathing down her neck. Totally ridiculous. 

Student government ended quickly, and Katara shouldered her bag to make her way out to the parking lot. She was meeting Zuko, Toph, and Aang after school to head to Iroh's to do homework, as Katara’s manager had given her another day off. Sokka had hockey practice and Suki was on her way to a college tour with her parents. As she walked down the hallway, she saw Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee making their way towards her. 

“Oh, look, girls!” Azula said, glaring at Katara. “It’s Zuzu’s new girlfriend.”

Katara tried to walk by, head held high, but Azula stood in her way. “Can you get out of my way please?”

“Why should I?” Azula asked. 

“Yeah, Azula, really, leave her alone,” Mai replied. Azula shot her an angry look, causing Mai to recoil slightly. Ty Lee stood behind Mai, trying to avoid eye contact with both girls.

“You think you know my brother so well, don’t you?” Azula hissed, taking a threatening step towards Katara. Katara refused to show fear.

“I like to believe I do,” Katara stated. 

Azula smirked. “Did he tell you why he lives with our uncle?”

“Yes, he did actually,” Katara replied, watching as Azula faltered slightly. “I know all of it.”

Mai and Ty Lee glanced at each other behind Azula. Mai looked at Katara, but, unlike Azula, her eyes were kind. Clearly, she was not holding any resentment about her ex boyfriend. 

“Well, Zuko is a failure,” Azula began, “he’s totally worthless. He will never live up to our father’s expectations. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s cut off as soon as he turns eighteen.”

Katara didn’t answer. 

“Want to know what Zuko and our father were arguing about?” Azula asked Katara, a wicked smile on her face. Katara saw as Mai and Ty Lee’s eyes went wide behind her. “He did tell you they were arguing right? That’s why Ozai threw the water at him?”

“Wait, what?” Mai asked. “What do you mean  _ your father  _ threw the water at him?”

“Oh shut up, Mai,” Azula snapped, “how stupid can you be?”

Mai fell silent, tears welling up in her eyes. Ty Lee took her hand in hers.

“Well, they were arguing about my mother, you see,” Azula continued as if she wasn’t interrupted. “Our mother was mugged, and Zuko always felt as though father had something to do with it.”

Katara’s heart was pounding in her chest. She remembered what Suki told her months ago: it was too calculated, it had to be planned.

“Mother and Father were  _ always  _ fighting. He was always beating her.” Azula almost sounded bored. “Mother liked Zuko the best. He was a little mama’s boy. Gag.”

“Azula, can we just stop?” Ty Lee asked, trying to place a hand on Azula’s shoulder, who smacked it away. Ty Lee shot Katara an apologetic look. 

“ _ Anyways,  _ Zuko always tried to stop Father from hurting mother,” Azula said, “but it never worked. He never touched me, I’m his golden girl. Mother threatened to leave him, sue him for everything he owns. Father is  _ very  _ rich if you didn’t know.”

Katara didn’t know that. 

“He owns many lucrative businesses, unlike stupid Uncle Iroh,” Azula sneered. “Mother said she would tell everyone Father knew what kind of person he was. She filed for divorce and tried to take Zuko and I with her, but she was mugged a few weeks later.”

“Azula, please,” Katara finally spoke, “please, if Zuko wanted to tell me he would.”

“Would he though?” Azula asked, her voice dripping with sweetness covered in sarcasm. “No, I don’t think so.”

“Can I please just get by?” Katara asked, her voice barely reaching above a whisper.

“Oh, but the end is the best part!” Azula exclaimed, hopping up on her toes. “So Mother was killed when Zuzu was ten, I was nine. Three years later, Zuzu won’t let it go. The police  _ said  _ it seemed strange, but Father was not having it.”

“What, Zuko believed your father had your mother killed,” Katara scoffed.

Azula smirked. “That’s exactly what he thinks. And he still believes it. So Father was angry at Zuko’s accusations and, well, you know what happens next.”

“Azula, you need to stop,” Mai muttered, still grasping Ty Lee’s hand and stepping back. “This isn’t her business.”

“Why not?” Azula asked, feigning innocence. “Doesn’t she want to play detective? Or is Zuko afraid Father might burn her too?”

“That’s  _ enough,  _ Azula,” came a voice from behind Katara. She turned to see Zuko coming towards them, fire in his eyes. Toph and Aang were on his heels. 

“Oh, Zuzu! I was just catching up with your dear girlfriend here about our family history!” Azula stated. 

Zuko stepped in between Azula and Katara, Aang and Toph siding up next to Katara.

“I said, that’s enough,”Zuko repeated. “You have no right to say anything. Leave her, and me, alone.”

With that, he turned around and grabbed Katara’s hand, walking away from the three girls, Toph and Aang following closely. Zuko didn’t let go of Katara’s hand until they reached the car.

“What did she tell you?” he asked her. Aang and Toph both had worried looks on their faces, but dared not to speak.

“Most of what you already told me,” Katara answered. “And… something about your mom.”

Zuko sighed. “Figures. Uh, listen, Uncle is probably worried about where we are, think we can head out?”

The other three nodded and climbed into the car. The ride to Uncle Iroh’s was quiet, except for Katara’s music playing through the speaker.

_ You can’t wake up, this is not a dream, you’re part of a machine, you are not a human being,  _ sang Halsey. 

Katara quickly found a spot and cut the engine. “Hey, Toph and Aang, you guys head on in. I just wanted to talk to Zuko real quick.”

“You got it, Sugar Queen,” Top replied, opening the door and grabbing her backpack. “Come on, Twinkle Toes.”

Aang opened his own door, but didn’t get out yet. “Everything okay?”

“Yes, Aang,” replied Katara, “everything’s okay. See you in there.”

Aang nodded and got out, slamming the door behind him. Katara watched as Aang and Toph crossed the road, hand in hand, and entered the shop before turning to Zuko, who was leaning his head against the seat with his eyes closed.

“So, uh, what happens now?” she asked him.

“Azula always lies,” Zuko muttered. He opened his eyes and looked at Katara. “At least that’s what I used to tell myself.”

“Well, some of what she told me had some truth to it,” Katara said, eyeing Zuko’s scar. 

Zuko sighed. “What she told you was pretty much true. Like you said, you know most of it, but… what did she tell you about my mom?”

“Just that you and your dad were arguing about her when he… when  _ that  _ happened,” Katara said, trying to avoid the topic of how Zuko got his scar further. 

“Yeah, we were,” Zuko replied. “Because he killed her and I know it.”

He said it so easily, so simply. As if he had truly believed every word.

“And how do you know this?” Katara asked him. 

“I just  _ do _ ,” he replied. “Like a gut feeling.”

“And your uncle?”

“Uncle Iroh thinks so too,” Zuko stated, “but he thinks I should just drop it.”

“And have you?” Katara asked. When Zuko looked at her questionly, she prompted, “Have you dropped it?”

He looked at her a while before answering. “No. I don’t think I ever will.”

Katara reached out and took his hand in hers. “Well, I guess I understand that.”

“I just… don’t want her or  _ him  _ to get you,” said Zuko squeezing her hand. 

“You mean your dad?” 

Zuko nodded.

“Zuko, I am a sixteen year old girl, I doubt your father will do anything to hurt me,” Katara replied. “Please, don’t worry about me.”

Zuko gave her a small smile. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“I know I am,” Katara confirmed. “And I can handle Azula, okay?”

“Yeah, okay,” he replied. “I guess you’re right. Ever since Mai and I broke up, I’ve been doing my best to avoid Azula. Just easier.”

“Well, don’t shut out the people who care about you, got it?” she said. “Because that won’t help you.” 

Zuko leaned over the console and gave her a small kiss. “I won’t.”

“Good,” replied Katara, “now let’s get inside before Uncle Iroh thinks we’re… what’s the word?”

“Canoodling,” Zuko laughed. “He thinks we’re canoodling.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The lyrics mentioned in the chapter (as well as the chapter title!) comes from Halsey's song Gasoline, which is taken off ehr album Badlands. 
> 
> Since I gave a ranking of FOB albums, here's my ranking of Halsey albums lol: Manic, Badlands, Hopeless Fountain Kingdom. Also, fun fact, I was supposed to see Halsey Sunday but the 'Rona swooped in and shattered my dreams. :(


	15. 3am

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara wakes from a nightmare at, you guessed it, 3am. Unable to fall back asleep, she calls Zuko.

One night, at the end of March, Katara found herself tossing and turning on her bed. The nightmares plagued her, continuously waking her up from sleep. At one point, she snapped awake, sitting upright in bed. Her stomach churning, Katara pushed her comforter aside, running to the bathroom and promptly vomiting in the toilet. She sat there, clutching the side of the toilet, violently emptying the contents of her stomach. When she was done, she sat down against the wall, squeezing her eyes shut and praying Sokka or Gran Gran didn’t come in to check on her. She could hear Sokka’s loud snores from down the hall.

Sighing, Katara pushed herself up, getting to her feet gently. She quickly brushed her teeth before making her way back to the bedroom and quietly shutting her door behind her. Crawling into her bed, she checked the clock: 3:00. Katara knew she wasn’t going to be able to fall back asleep, no matter how tired her body was. On instinct, she turned on her lamp and grabbed her phone from her bedside table and unlocked it, scrolling through her contacts. There was only one person she wanted to talk to, and she wasn’t even sure if he would hear the phone ring. 

Still, Katara clicked on Zuko’s name, the camera turning on facing her. She listened to the phone as it rang, but not even a minute later, Zuko’s face filled the screen.

“Kat?” he asked her, rubbing his good eye. “Kat, what’s wrong?”

The moment the words left his mouth, Katara burst out into tears. She had no idea why she was crying so hard, but she listened as Zuko tried to comfort her.

“Hey, Kat, hey it’s okay,” he whispered, gently. “Kat, I’m here.” 

Katara let out a sob. “I keep dreaming about  _ her _ .”

“Who, Katara?” Zuko asked her. 

“My mom,” Katara choked out. “I haven’t had nightmares about her since middle school, I don’t know why this keeps happening.”

“Hmmm,” Zuko replied. She could see him rubbing his chin as he thought. “Could something have triggered it?”

“I don’t… I don’t know..” Katara replied. 

“Okay, when was the first time you had a nightmare?” he asked her.

Katara thought back, unsure. Finally, she remembered that morning waking up in Zuko’s arms. “At Suki’s party a couple months ago. Well, I didn’t remember it, but I guess then.”

“Ah, well, okay,” Zuko said, “maybe something happened around that time?”

But what could have happened? Winter break ended, the first semester ended bringing in the second semester, midterms were at the forefront of school and, she remembered with a jolt, she met Zuko. Clearly, Zuko couldn’t have anything to do with this.  _ Unless… _

“Kat?” he asked, snapping her to attention. “Did you think of something.”

“I - no,” she lied, “no I don’t think so.”

Zuko didn’t look convinced through the camera. “Well, try and see if there is a pattern, okay? And maybe tell your dad. I’m sure he’d want to know too.”

Katara nodded, sitting up and bringing her knees to her chest, holding her phone away from her so she could see Zuko clearly. “I’ll call him tomorrow after school. He might be able to help.”

“Okay, good,” Zuko replied. “I’m sorry you’re having nightmares, Katara.”

“It’s okay,” she sighed. “Thank you for picking up. I hope I didn’t wake you.”

“Actually, I never went to sleep,” he replied sheepishly. 

“Oh? Why?”

“I was thinking about my own mom,” Zuko replied with a slight shrug.

“Oh, no, Zuko,” Katara said, “I hope Azula didn’t bring up any bad memories.”

“Oh, no!” Zuko exclaimed. Katara relaxed. “No, no, uh actually… my uncle brought it up.”

Katara glanced at him, cocking her head slightly. “Oh?”

“Remember how I said my uncle told me to let everything go?” Zuko asked.

Katara nodded.

“Well, turns out for the past few years, he’s been looking into the case still,” Zuko replied, his voice filled with excitement. “He’s been talking with an investigator for a while now, hoping my father would slip up at some point.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well,” Zuko continued, “my dad has a lot of money. Tons of people work for his businesses around the world. Even people we don’t know about. Uncle has been digging into everything, since he has access to files.”

“How?”

“Technically, when my grandfather died,” Zuko explained, “the company should have gone to Iroh, since he’s older. But my uncle didn’t want it, the loss of his son was too great on him, so he said my father could lead, as long as Iroh’s name stayed on the papers. So  _ that’s  _ how Iroh has access.”

“Okay,” replied Katara, still a bit confused. “So what did he find?”

“Well, nothing yet,” Zuko said, “or nothing he wants to tell me. I found him snooping around father’s files, that’s how it came up. I technically shouldn’t know, but I’m also eighteen so…”

Katara’s head was spinning. This was all too much.

“Hey, we can change the subject if you want,” Zuko offered, noticing her discomfort. 

“Yes please,” Katara replied.

“Okay, hm, what funny thing happened recently that I can tell you,” Zuko said thoughtfully. She saw his face light up with a memory. “Did I tell you I caught Sokka and Suki making out in the library?”

“What, ew,” Katara replied, scrunching her nose. “I mean, okay, I’ve caught them making out plenty of times, but…”

“But not in the library, behind a hidden bookshelf, have you?” Zuko asked, laughing. 

Katara laughed lightly, trying not to be too loud. “No, that’s a new one.”

“Who makes out in a  _ library _ ?” Zuko asked, his own nose scrunching. “All those people watching?”

“What people? If you’re hiding, no one can see you!”   
  


Zuko stuck his tongue out. “I mean, like, the books.”

“Oh, so they’re alive no, huh?” Katara teased. She felt the pressure in her chest finally start to loosen as she joked with Zuko. “Is Percy Jackson watching from the bookshelf? What about Holden Caulfield? Is he watching all the phonies making out in the library? Is Hester Prynne waiting to mark others with another scarlett A?”

“They might be!” Zuko replied. “Seriously, Kat, you don’t know who’s watching!”

Katara laughed again. “Want to hear something super juicy?”

“I mean, always,” Zuko replied. 

“So, Aang used to have this huge crush on me right?” 

“Wait, he  _ did? _ ” Zuko asked, his right eye wide.

“Zuko are you  _ blind _ ?”

Zuko smirked. “I mean… technically.”

“Wait, shut up,” Katara replied, trying to hold in her laughter. “Can I finish?”

“Yes, please!”

“Okay,  _ so _ , Aang had this huge crush on me. I never… exactly told him I don’t feel the same way,” Katara explained.

“I’m assuming he does now, considering, you know… us,” Zuko stated. She could see that he was now lying on his stomach, propping his head up on his hand. 

“Right, well, the school has a semi formal for the underclassmen, since juniors and seniors have prom,” Katara continued.

“A junior prom  _ you’re  _ not going to,” Zuko stressed, teasing her. “I told you I’d go.”

“Hell, no, I told you I don’t want to go,” Katara said. “Let me finish. Well Aang told me the other day he felt left out since Sokka and Suki and me and you are going to senior prom, so he told me he’s going to ask Toph if she’d want to go to the semi formal with him.” 

Zuko gasped for emphasis. “Like, as a date?”

“That, I’m not sure,” Katara said, “but wouldn’t that be  _ so  _ cute?”

“Hm,” Zuko considered, “that would be adorable.”

“Right! Anyways, just thought I’d let you know.”

The two continued talking. Despite the fact that Katara could feel her eyes getting heavy around 4:00, she powered through, the two finally deciding to hang up at 4:30.

“Thank you, Zuko,” Katara told him. “I really appreciate this.”

“Anything for my favorite girl,” Zuko answered her, smiling. “Now, good night, Kat. See you tomorrow… ah, this morning? Later?”

Katara laughed. “Good night, Zuko.”

When she and Sokka were gathered around the table later that morning at 7:00, Gran Gran served the two their pancakes, looking at Katara suspiciously. 

“Kit Kat, I could have sworn I heard you talking in the middle of the night,” Gran Gran said, placing a bottle of syrup on the table.

“I didn’t hear anything,” Sokka said, his mouth full. “Were you awake?”

“Uh…” 

“Katara, trust me, I heard talking when I went to the bathroom,” said Gran Gran. “Why were you up?”

“Well,” Katara started. There was no point in lying. “I couldn’t sleep, so I called Zuko.”

“Zuko?” Sokka asked, staring at Katara.

“Oh, that lovely boyfriend of yours?” Gran Gran asked. “Why couldn’t you sleep?”

“I just…” she looked back and forth between Gran Gran and Sokka. “I had a nightmare.”

Sokka shook his head in sympathy, while Gran Gran came over and wrapped her arms around her granddaughter. 

“You have a nice boy there, Kit Kat,” Gran Gran whispered in her hair. “Don’t let him go.”

“I won’t, Gran Gran,” Katara whispered back, grasping her grandmother. 

“We’ll discuss this nightmare later,” Gran Gran said, letting go of Katara. “If anything, I have Yangchen’s number saved somewhere if you need to start seeing her again.”

Katara nodded and started picking at her pancakes. Yangchen was her therapist years ago that she saw for years after her mother died. Maybe seeing her again would be useful. Still, her late night conversation talk with Zuko really did help. Gran Gran was right: she couldn’t let a boy so good like that go. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: I don't actually ship Aang/Toph, but like... they be cute.


	16. more

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara confronts her feelings when she finally realizes she is in her first 'real' relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, like, this started off angsty a bit, but then it just slowly didn't become angsty? Like there's some angst, but writing Zuko and Katara fighting is hard.   
> Also, this is my longest chapter yet, so that's fun!

“I need Haru to hurry up and ask me to prom already,” Yue stated, sidling up to Katara at the counter where she was manning the register. “Like seriously.”

Katara shook her head and looked over at the older girl. “How do you know he’s going to ask you? Also, ask him to yours if you want to go with him so badly.”

“Oh, I already asked him to mine, didn’t I tell you?” Yue asked her.

“No! What did he say?” 

“He said yes, which, I won’t lie, was a bit of a surprise,” Yue answered, beaming. “He mentioned he could take me to his, he just hasn’t officially asked yet.”

Katara gave Yue a high five. “Nice, girl! And that would be cool if he asked you, then we can hang out!”

“Hell, yeah!” Yue exclaimed. She glanced at the entrance. “Customer alert.”

Yue gave Katara a little wink as Zuko approached the counter, leaning on his elbows. 

“Hello, sir, what can I get for you?” Katara asked, pretending to put on her best customer service voice. 

Zuko chuckled. “Hmm, your phone number seems nice?”

Katara laughed and gave Zuko a shove on the shoulder. “What are you doing here? Don’t you have work today?”

“Uncle Iroh gave me the rest of the night off,” Zuko shrugged, “so I decided to come hang out with you and do some homework until you got off.” 

“Sounds good to me!” Katara exclaimed, looking at her watch. “I have about an hour left and then we can always head back to my place. I have some homework to do.”

“That works,” Zuko replied. “Anything I can help you with?”

“I’ll let you know when we get there,” Katara replied. “Now, did you want something while you worked?”

“Nah, I’m good,” he said, “I’ll just be over here.”

Katara watched as he walked towards a table closest to the counter. He dropped his bag on the ground and began pulling out various textbooks. It reminded Katara of the first time he came in, how she was intrigued by the mysterious boy. Two months later and now she’s dating him. 

“Phew, I cannot believe you snagged him,” Yue whispered to her as she walked by. 

Katara gave her a good natured grin and got back to work. The hour passed quickly despite the fact that she only had a few customers to serve. When her coworker came in to relieve her, she made her way to Zuko.

“Hey,” she said, sitting in the seat beside him, “you ready to go.”

Zuko furrowed his brow a bit, concentrating on his calculus homework. “Yeah, almost. Just need to finish this one problem… Ugh, is Sokka at hockey practice?”

Katara checked her watch. “Nope, he should have been home maybe twenty minutes ago.”

“Great!” Zuko replied, slamming his book shut and shoving it in his backpack, “I can just ask Sokka when we get back to your place.”

“You got it, Sparky,” Katara teased, getting up out of her seat and grabbing Zuko’s bag before he could think about homework anymore. He laughed and followed her out the store. 

“So, when is the next time you go in?” Zuko asked as they walked out to Katara’s car.

“Tomorrow, unfortunately,” Katara replied. “But don’t worry! I got prom off!”

Zuko smiled at her and got into the car when Kataa unlocked it. The drive back to Katara’s was quick, just a conversation about homework and school. Opening the front door, they saw Sokka in the living room, lounging on the couch, watching ‘Queer Eye’ again.

“ _ Sokka _ , watching without me again?” Katara asked, letting Zuko in.

Sokka paused the TV. “Okay, to be fair, I’m rewatching an episode because I can. So, uh, I’m not technically watching without you. ‘Sup, Zuko.”

“Hey, buddy,” Zuko replied as Gran Gran padded into the room. 

“Oh, hello, Zuko!” she exclaimed. “How are you?”

“Very good, thank you,” Zuko said, bowing his head a bit. He had met Gran Gran a handful of times, and he was still shy around her, which Katara found absolutely adorable. “Katara invited me over, I hope that’s okay?”

“Of course it’s okay!” Gran Gran stated. “Have you two eaten? I have spaghetti that I can heat up.”

“I’m starving, Gran Gran,” Katara said, dropping her bag on the ground. “Let me just change out of my work clothes real quick, and then I can eat and do my work.”

Katara made her way to her room, listening to the others in the living room. Zuko told Gran Gran he had already eaten, but she insisted making him a plate too, to which he conceded. Katara giggled while listening to Zuko try and navigate Gran Gran. Quickly, she changed into a pair of sweatpants and sweatshirt, depositing her clothes into the hamper. She’ll have to shower after Zuko leaves. 

When she made it back to the living room, Zuko and Sokka were deep in their calculus homework.

“I just don’t get this one problem,” Zuko muttered, eyebrow furrowed. 

“Okay, buddy, I got this,” Sokka replied.

Katara listened to the two boys work as she pulled out her own homework. Gran Gran came in, two bowls of spaghetti in her hands, placing one next to Katara on the floor and one on the coffee table for Zuko. Katara ate, typing away on her Chromebook; she only had some questions to read for AP Lang and a chapter in the textbook for AP US History; she had finished her AP Bio homework earlier during study. 

Sokka’s phone began ringing, and he took it out of his pocket. “Hey, it’s Suki! Mind if I help you later?”

Zuko waved a hand. “No worries, man, go talk to Suki. I’ll figure it out.”

Sokka answered the phone and walked out of the room. Zuko slid off the couch and joined Katara on the floor. 

“Your brother is head over heels for Suki, huh?” Zuko observed as Sokka’s booming laugh came from his room. 

“Oh, totally,” Katara answered, laughing. “They’re so cute.”

Zuko smiled. He opened Katara’s textbook on the floor, flipping through the pages. “So what else you need to work on?”

“What’s the hurry, Zuko,” she teased, “hoping the faster I finish, the faster we can go to my room?”

Zuko turned bright red. “Uh, no, I mean, uh…”

“Zuko, you are  _ such  _ a nerd,” Katara replied, giving him a good natured shove. “Is that why you came over?”

“You think I’d come over just to get in your pants?” he asked. Katara laughed before realizing Zuko wasn’t joking.

“Zuko, come on, it was a joke,” she replied, trying to play it off. “You know, just… jokes.”

Zuko looked at her a bit before grabbing another book out of his bag and opening it. 

“I mean… Did you want to?” she asked him, biting her lip. She really did not know how to proceed. 

He looked at her. “Want to?”

“I... nevermind,” she said finally, focusing back on her work. Zuko gave a small shrug before turning back to his own work. 

They sat there, each concentrating on their respective school work, unable to look at each other. At one point, Gran Gran came in to take the empty bowls away, giving Katara a small look when she realized the two weren’t talking. Katara gave a little shrug and pointed to her textbooks, as if to explain that was why they’re so quiet.

“Uncle Iroh needs to stay at the shop late tonight,” Zuko said, breaking the silence. “Think you could drive me home?” 

“Yeah,” Katara replied. “Wait, how did you get to Starbucks earlier?”

“Hm? Oh, I got a ride with Mai. She was at the shop when Iroh let me go, and she needed to go to Barnes and Noble, so she offered me a ride.” He said it so easily, but Katara could feel her heart sink.

“So you just… got a ride with your ex girlfriend?” she asked him. 

He looked at her, confused. “Katara, is that a problem? I mean, we are still friends.”

“Since when?” Katara snapped. “I thought you hated Azula and her friends.”

“Katara, woah,” he replied, scooting closer to her. “It’s no big deal. Just because I don’t deal with Azula, doesn’t mean I can’t talk to Mai and Ty Lee. I’ve known them since I was a kid.”

Katara didn’t know why she felt so angry. Or jealous. “But you were alone with her?”

“Spirits, Katara! All she did was give me a ride!” Zuko exclaimed, throwing his hands up. “Where is this coming from?”

“I don’t know,” Katara scoffed. “I really don’t.”

Zuko sat beside her, placing an arm around her shoulder. “Katara, I promise you, nothing happened. Mai and I are still friends because we’ve known each other for so long. We both know it’s over. She knows how I feel about you.”

“And how do you feel about me?” Katara asked, resting her head on his shoulder.

“I care about you,” he replied simply. “Katara, seriously, is everything okay?” 

“Everything’s fine,” she replied. As she said it, she felt like nothing was fine. She felt mad and she had no idea why. “I’m fine.”

“I’m sorry if I got mad too,” Zuko said. “I know you were joking, but it just didn’t sit right with me for some reason.” 

“No it’s okay,” Katara replied, “I don’t know why I said that.”

“Katara, I need you to know I’m never going to pressure you to do anything you don’t want to do,” he told her, shifting so that he was looking at her. “Is that okay?”

“Yeah, that’s okay,” she replied.

“Okay, good,” he said. Zuko took his arm from around her and went back to his bag. “Maybe we should head out though, it is getting late.”

Katara nodded and quickly packed up her bag. She grabbed the keys from the front table and shouted to Gran Gran that she would be back. In the car, Zuko and Katara sat quietly listening to the radio instead of Katara’s playlist. The ride to Zuko’s wasn’t long, but when Katara pulled up to the curb, Zuko didn’t get out. 

“What did you mean ‘did I want to’?” Zuko asked her, turning his head so that he could look at her properly. 

“Nothing, it was stupid,” Katara said, refusing to meet his eyes. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Like I said, I don’t want to do anything you’re not comfortable with,” he stressed. 

“I know,” she replied.

He stared at her a bit longer. “Katara, I really didn’t go over there to get in your pants, I just genuinely love being with you.”

Katara swallowed the lump in her throat. “I know that, Zuko. I just… never had a serious relationship before, that’s all.”

“Is that what you’re worried about?” he asked her. “That you’re doing something wrong, or we’re going too slow or too fast?”

“I think so,” she replied, finally looking at him. “I guess I’m just looking at Sokka and Suki and thinking we should be like them.”

“Well, we’re not like them,” he told her. “And you know that’s okay, right?”

She nodded. 

“And you know you can tell me anything that bothers you, right?” 

She nodded again.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was still friends with Mai,” Zuko stated. “That was stupid.”

“No, no it’s not stupid,” she said, shaking her head. “I don’t know why I got jealous. I figured you two would still hang out since you’ve known each other for so long.”

“I mean, it’s not often,” Zuko said. “Sometimes we say hi at school or talk in between classes. Or we talk when she and Ty Lee visit Iroh’s.”

“Yeah, that’s okay.” Katara said. “Wait, no, that sounds like I’m giving you permission, or wait, agh!”

Zuko gave a light laugh. “I know what you mean.”

“I just… I wish my mom was here to help me,” she said. “She would have liked you.”

“I think my mom would have liked you too,” Zuko replied. 

Katara smiled and leaned over, placing a soft kiss on Zuko’s lips. “It was nice spending time with you.”

“I love spending time with you,” Zuko said, opening the car door. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“See you tomorrow,” Katara agreed. She watched as he got out of the car and made his way up the walkway, opening his front door. He gave a small wave before turning to go inside.

Katara rushed home, hoping Gran Gran hadn’t gone to bed yet. 

“Gran Gran,” she yelled, as she opened the door. “Gran Gran are you awake?”

She heard Gran Gran’s door open and listened to her pad down the hallway. Katara collapsed on the couch just as Gran Gran came in.

“Are you okay, Kit Kat?” Gran Gran asked, sitting next to her granddaughter. 

“Gran Gran, how did you know you were in love?”

Gran Gran raised her eyebrows, bemused. “Seems like you’re a little young to be in love, aren’t you, Kit Kat?”

“Gran Gran  _ please _ .”

Gran Gran smiled, putting her arm around Katara’s shoulders and pulling her close. “You just get this feeling in your gut. You look at the person and you just know.”

“What if that feeling in your gut is mixed with something else?” Katara asked.

“Like what?”

“Jealousy. Or… being unsure about everything?”

“Hmm,” replied Gran Gran, now rubbing Katara’s arm like she used to when Katara was a little girl. “Well, like I said, you are a little young to be in love. And your relationship with Zuko is still new. We are talking about Zuko, correct?”

“I mean,” Katara said, “I was talking about love in general, but I guess this can be applied to Zuko.” 

“This is your first big relationship,” Gran Gran told her, “of course you’re going to be unsure. You may feel jealous because the relationship is new, but as time wears on, you don’t care about others. Why are you asking this all of a sudden?”

“I, well, I don’t know,” Katara stated, shifting slightly. “I made a joke and Zuko didn’t take it well. Then I got jealous because he still talks to his ex girlfriend, and I just got so confused, and I wish mom was here to help me.”

Katara began crying as Gran Gran held her closer. “Shh, Kit Kat, it’s okay, my darling. I know you miss her.”

“I miss her so much, Gran Gran,” Katara sniffed into her Gran Gran’s shoulder. “And I just wish I knew what to do. Am I going too fast? Too slow? Am I doing everything right?” 

“Katara, you and Zuko are going whatever pace you want to go,” Gran Gran replied, pulling Katara away from her to look in her face. “Does he respect you?”

Katara wiped a tear. “Yes.”

“Is he pressuring you to do something you don’t want to do?” 

Katara thought of what Zuko said earlier. “No.”

“Are  _ you  _ pressuring  _ him  _ into doing something he’s not ready to do?”

“Gran Gran…”

“Answer my question, Katara,” Gran Gran stated.

“No, Gran Gran,” she replied. 

“Good,” said Gran Gran, hugging Katara to her once again. “Then that’s all that matters. You talk to Zuko when something bothers you, and he talks to you when something bothers him. Establish boundaries and discuss next steps. If you feel like there’s nothing there, then take a step back. If you feel like that relationship is worth it, then you continue pursuing it. Does that make sense?” 

“A little bit,” Katara replied.

“Last question,” Gran Gran. “Does he make you happy?”

“Yeah, he does,” Katara replied. He made her feel lighter than she had in years. 

“Then love has room to grow,” Gran Gran assured her. 

Katara hugged Gran Gran. “Thank you, Gran Gran. I love you so much.”

Gran Gran squeezed Katara in her arms. “I love you too, Kit Kat. I’m always here for you.”

“I know.” 

“Though, now that you’re sixteen going on seventeen,” Gran Gran started, but she couldn’t finish before Katara burst out into song.

“You are sixteen, going on seventeen!” Katara sang. 

Gran Gran shook her head smiling. “Oh, Katara, my darling.”

Katara smiled. “What about me going on seventeen?”

“Has your father had the the sex talk with you yet?” Gran Gran asked, the corners of her lips twitching slightly at Katara’s sudden discomfort.

_ “Gran Gran! _ ” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone has any suggestions about what could happen next, please let me know! :)


	17. roman holiday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sex talk and double dates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, I just needed a reason to have Sokka and Suki and Katara and Zuko interacting because they're all super cute and needed this double date. So the plot isn't really moving forward, I was just writing this because I love my children.

A few days later, on Saturday, Katara woke up to a soft knocking at her bedroom door. Rubbing her eyes, she sat up and called out a weak, “Come in.”

Hakoda opened the door carefully, peering in at his daughter. “You awake, Katara?”

“Dad!” she yelled, jumping out of bed and running over to give Hakoda a hug. “I didn’t know you were coming home! When did you get here?”

Hakoda gave Katara a hug, gently kissing the top of her head. “Just last night. It was a short trip this time.”

“I’m so happy you’re home,” she said, hugging him tighter. Hakoda laughed, squeezing her back. “I have so much to tell you.”

“Ah, that reminds me,” Hakoda exclaimed, holding Katara in his arms, “Gran Gran updated me on some… things that happened.”

“Dad, I already told you about Zuko?” Katara replied, confused. “Oh! You can finally meet him this weekend!”

“That would be wonderful, Katara, I would love to meet him,” replied Hakoda, warmly. “But I actually wanted to, uh, discuss something else with you. Why don’t you sit down.”

“Um, okay,” Katara said, biting her lip but sitting back down on her bed. 

Hakoda pulled over the chair at Katara’s desk, sitting by the bed. “So. Well, I’m not really sure how to start this… I mean, with Sokka, it was easier for some reason.”

“Dad, what is this?” Katara asked, her heart racing. She felt a blush starting at the base of her neck and slowly making its way towards her cheeks. 

“I think… Spirits, I think it’s time we had the sex talk,” Hakoda finally stated. 

“ _ Dad _ !” Katara shrieked, making her way under her covers and whipping them over her face. “I cannot believe this.”

“Katara, this is very important,” Hakoda stated firmly. “Sex is a very natural part of life, and I understand wanting to do it with someone you… love. But, we need to discuss this further.”

Katara groaned, peeking up from under her covers. “Dad, Gran Gran gave me the talk a couple nights ago.”

“Did she now? Oh, well she left out  _ that  _ information,” Hakoda, said, rubbing his chin. The action redminded Katara of Sokka. “She just said you needed to have it, but never updated me… Well, I guess I can expand on it a little more.”

Katara groaned again, finally sitting up and looking at her dad. “Okay, what do you got?”

“Well, if you do decide to have sex, which Spirits I pray is not soon, make sure you use protection,” Hakoda explained. “Make sure you  _ both  _ agree. That’s important too.”

“Yep, got that,” Katara replied. 

“Uh, I hate to ask this, and this probably makes me a bad father for not knowing, but are you on birth control?” 

Katara winced a bit, wishing this whole conversation could be over. “Yes, I have been for the past year.”

Hakoda nodded. “Good… good…”

“Dad, are we done yet?” Katara asked. 

“You sure you and Gran Gran already had this conversation?” Hakoda stared at his daughter, as if trying to read her mind.

“Yes!” Katara exclaimed. “Please, dad?”

Hakoda let out a deep chuckle. “Okay, well I’m going to check with Gran Gran and make sure. I thought Sokka was bad.”

Katara rolled her eyes. “Okay, well, uh, thanks for this then.”

“Yeah, good talk,” Hakoda said, placing the chair he was using back at the desk. “I’m going to help Gran Gran make some breakfast.”

He gave Katara a small wave as he walked out the door, shutting it behind him. Katara quickly grabbed her phone off her side table.

_ K > my dad just tried to give me the sex talk  _ 😭

_ Suki > HAHAHAHAHAAHAHA _

_ S > that is TOO funny.  _

Katara smiled at Suki’s reply and jumped out of bed, quickly getting dressed. Out in the kitchen, Hakoda was sitting at the table reading on his phone as Sokka ate his breakfast. Gran Gran was placing some more pancakes on a plate which she placed at the table for Katara.

“Morning, Kit Kat,” said Gran Gran. “Sleep well?”

“Yes, thank you,” Katara replied. Hakoda looked up to give her a smile, which Katara tried to return. She wasn’t really sure if she would be able to ever look him in the eye again. 

Katara’s phone buzzed. 

_ Suki > wait, didn’t you say gran gran gave it to you the other day? _

_ K > yep!!! She forgot to tell dad. _

_ S > LMAO oh man, you’re taking it better than Sokka ever did he was HORRIFIED. _

“Who you texting? Your boyfriend?” Sokka asked, stabbing another piece of his pancake.

“Actually,  _ your  _ girlfriend,” Katara smirked. 

“This is a cruel, cruel world,” Sokka replied, placing his hand over his chest dramatically. “My own sister, stealing my girlfriend away from me.”

“Oh, yeah? And you don’t text Zuko as much as I do?” Katara asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Sokka scoffed. “We talk about  _ homework. _ ”

“That’s how we started,” Katara stated, sticking her tongue out at Sokka who quickly returned it.

“Aren’t you two quite a pair,” said Hakoda, laughing and placing his phone on the table. “I’ve missed you both dearly.”

“We missed you too, Dad,” said Sokka, now cutting another piece of pancake and shoving it into his mouth.

Hakoda smiled. “Well, Gran Gran and I have some errands we have to run. What will you two be doing?”

“Actually, Katara,” Sokka said, looking at Katara, “not sure if Suki mentioned it, but we were planning on going to lunch and we were wondering if you and Zuko wanted to join?”

Katara frowned a bit. “What about Toph and Aang?”

“Ah, well, we were thinking of…” 

“A double date?” Hakoda chimed in. “That sounds like fun, you two. Then you can bring Suki and Zuko back here. I haven’t seen Suki in a while and I would love to meet Zuko.”

Katara thought about it for a bit. “Okay, let me text Zuko and I can let you know.”

“Great!” replied Sokka.

“Okay, wolves, I’m going to leave you two to clean the dishes so your dad and I can head out,” Gran Gran stated, already grabbing her purse off the kitchen counter. 

“Yes, Gran Gran,” they replied in unison. 

Hakoda and Gran Gran gave them each a quick kiss on the head and made their way out. Katara pulled her phone out and texted Zuko.

_ K > hey, Sokka and Suki were wondering if you wanted to grab lunch _

_ K > like as a double date type thing  _

_ K > totally up to you _

She stared at the messages and saw the three dots appear on the screen that indicated Zuko was typing.

_ Z > sure, sounds like fun. What time? _

“Zuko said sure,” Katara told Sokka, “but what time?”

“Well, it’s like 9:30 now,” Sokka answered, checking the time on his phone. “We still need to do dishes. Maybe around 1:00?”

_ K > around 1:00? _

_ Z > yeah, I can do that. Can you give me a ride? _

“Can we give him a ride?” Katara asked, getting up and picking up her now empty plate. 

Sokka nodded. “Yep, we’re picking up Suki too, so we can grab him first.”

_ K > yep! Pick you up around then _

_ Z > can’t wait :)  _

Katara and Sokka quickly did the dishes, unloading and reloading the dishwasher. Katara also decided to start some laundry, grabbing her clothes from her room and making her way to the tiny basement. Folding Sokka’s clothes that were in the dryer, she threw her clothes in the washer and made her back up, handing Sokka his basket of clean clothes.

“Oh, totally forgot about these, thanks!” Sokka said. “Okay, let me put this in my room and then how would you feel about watching ‘Stranger Things’?”

Katara smiled and made her way to the couch, sinking into it. “Always.”

Together, they watched the first few episodes before deciding to get ready. Since Zuko was closer than Suki, Katara quickly sent him a text to let him know to be ready and she and Sokka hopped in the car.

“So why were you texting Suki?” Sokka asked as he pulled away from the curb and onto the street. “Not that I don’t like you being friends with my girlfriend, I love it, but just wondering.”

Katara groaned. “Gran Gran gave me the sex talk the other day, and then Dad just tried to give it to me again this morning. I thought Suki would find it funny.”

“Oh, ugh,” replied Sokka, “not the sex talk.”

“Let me guess,” Katara said, “you want to give it to me too?”

“Listen, just use protection, that’s all I ask,” Sokka exclaimed, shrugging a bit. “Oh, and don’t tell me about it, please.”

“Ew, Sokka,” Katara replied, “why would I tell you?”

“I’m saying not to!” he replied, throwing a hand up. “Now can we move on, this is weird. Throw on some music.”

Rolling her eyes, Katara plugged in her phone and shuffled an 80s playlist she knew Sokka would like. She watched as he bobbed his head to the music, lip singing to  _ I Wanna Dance with Somebody. _

“Man, you are such a nerd,” Katara stated, laughing as Sokka then attempted to hit a spectacularly high note and failing.

“Oh, I’m sorry this is a classic bop,” Sokka replied. “You with your Halseys and your boys who fall.”

Katara laughed just as they pulled up to Zuko’s. Sokka honked the horn, and Zuko made his way out and climbed into the back seat. Iroh was standing at the door, waving; Sokka and Katara waved back.

“I’ll join you in the backseat when Suki joins us,” Katara told Zuko, turning to look at him. 

“No worries,” Zuko replied, smiling at her. “Where are we going anyways?”

Sokka shrugged. “There’s this new place that Suki was dying to try. I think we’ll go there, if that sounds good to you guys?”

“Works for me,” replied Katara as Zuko nodded in the backseat. 

They grabbed Suki, Katara joining Zuko in the back, and made their way to the new restaurant that Suki had talked about. 

“Okay, let’s see if this place is as good as people say it is,” said Sokka when they sat down, opening his menu up and looking over the variety of options. 

“They sure have a lot to choose from,” Suki replied, eyeing her own menu. “They have a separate breakfast menu and lunch menu?”

“That’s fancy,” said Zuko. “But do they allow people to order off the breakfast menu after breakfast? That’s the real question.”

“It would be a  _ crime  _ if they didn’t,” replied Sokka. “These eggs benedict sound amazing.”

Suki rolled her eyes at her boyfriend. “This loaded chicken caesar salad sounds interesting.” 

“What makes it loaded?” Katara asked.

“Who knows, but I’m going for it,” Suki replied, closing her menu. 

The waitress came over and took everyone’s orders. As they waited, they four made conversation, discussing school and work and various sports practices.

“Oh, actually, I do have one question,” Suki said as their food finally arrived. “We need to come up with a plan for prom.”

“Shoot, I forgot about that,” Sokka replied, rubbing his chin. “Ugh, planning sucks.”

“Well, it’s important,” Suki reminded him. “Where should we take pictures and how will we get there?”

“Why not just at our house?” Katara asked, passing Zuko a napkin and utensils. “Would that work?”

“We’ll have to check with dad and Gran Gran,” Sokka pointed out. “But, they probably won’t mind.”

“I’m down with that,” Suki agreed. “I’d rather not use my house.”

“What do you think, Zuko?” Sokka asked.

“Yeah, whatever works for me.” Zuko replied. “Is there anyone else you guys wanted to involve?” 

“Haru and I were talking the other day,” Sokka stated, “he said he didn’t have plans yet.”

“He’s bringing Yue,” Katara told him, “I would love to hang out with her.”

“It would be nice to see her again,” Sokka replied, nodding. He turned to Suki. “Want me to ask Haru?”

“Sure!” Suki replied. “Haru is nice and I like Yue.”

“Great, can I eat now?” Sokka said. The others laughed and they all dug in. 

Like Sokka, Katara had also ordered eggs benedict. As she ate, she felt some of the hollandaise sauce completely miss her mouth and dribble down her chin. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Zuko laugh mid bite. 

“You got a little,” Zuko teased, pointing at his own mouth. Katara blushed, but Zuko grabbed his own napkin, wiping the sauce from her chin. “Allow me, messy.”

Katara gave him a quick kiss. “Thanks, babe.”

“Really guys?” Suki asked, dramatically dropping her fork. “ _ Right  _ in front of my salad?” 

Sokka snorted into his soda as Zuko and Katara laughed. Once they all started, they couldn’t stop, earning them stares from the people seated around them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I also highkey needed an excuse to use the line "Right in front of my salad". Comments and suggestions always welcome! :)


	18. ghost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The future is a weird thing to think about, and Zuko is stressed.

March quickly bled into April, and before Katara knew it, her classes were starting to shift into finals mode. She had multiple papers, labs, and projects being assigned to her, the student government was beginning the process of re-election, and peer leadership was meeting more often due to new students coming into the building next year. Hakoda, knowing that Katara was stressed, convinced Katara to take some more time off work, which her boss allowed. She was now only working two days a week as opposed to four. 

Katara’s fellow juniors were all discussing their upcoming prom, which Katara really did not feel like discussing considering it was her choice not to go. Instead, the Friday of prom, Katara found herself and her friends at the local shopping center, much to Sokka’s delight.

“Sokka, do we need to go into  _ every  _ store,” Suki asked as Sokka dragged her into yet another store. This one sold different knick knacks that Sokka and Katara used to love to play with growing up.

“Listen, Suki, I need this okay?” Sokka asked, picking up a bobblehead. Its head bounced as Sokka shook it. “Haha, Suki, look!”

Suki rolled her eyes and looked at the others. “I’ll keep the child here company if you guys want to go somewhere else.”

“Anyone have a fake ID?” Aang asked, looking at Zuko, specifically.

“Um, no?” Zuko said, somewhat perturbed. “Why?”

Aang shrugged. “You need to be eighteen to pet the dogs.”

“Aw, man, I want to pet the dogs!” Toph replied. 

“Sorry, Toph,” Katara replied, “no dogs today.”

Toph crossed her arms and pouted. “Well, I’m not waiting here all night for Sokka, so what can we do?”

“Why don’t we just walk around a bit, pop into stores that seem interesting?” Katara suggested. 

Toph groaned. “Okay, fine, but I’m not trying anything on.” 

Aang and Katara laughed. Aang grabbed Toph and the two of them led Katara and Zuko out, making their way around the area. Katara listened to Aang and Toph's jokes, not exactly understanding all of their inside jokes from class. Next to her, Zuko was quiet. 

“Hey, are you okay?” Katara asked him, hoping Toph and Aang were too absorbed in whatever they were talking about to hear her. “You’re really quiet today.”

“Just stressed, that’s all,” Zuko replied. 

“Want to talk about it?” Katara asked, taking his hand in hers, and lacing her fingers through his. 

Zuko shook his head. “I don’t know. Not now. You’re all having too much fun.”

“We can ditch Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, over here,” Katara suggested, calling Toph and Aang by Sokka’s occasional nickname for the two. “Or we can wait until we’re back at my house. Up to you.”

“If we wait until your place, won’t everyone else be there?” Zuko asked her.

“We can find somewhere to talk, no worries,” Katara assured him. 

When Zuko nodded, she continued to follow Toph and Aang on their adventure that seems to have no end in sight. Katara ended up roping the two into the food court where they waited for Sokka and Suki. Once all united again, they decided to head home to Katara and Sokka’s where the other four were sleeping over for the night. 

Hakoda was on the road again, so it was just Gran Gran watching them for the night. She had pizza delivered by the time they all got there, and they ate ravenously. 

“Okay, all, get your game faces on,” Sokka said, standing up. “I’m going to break out Phase 10.”

“Oh, Spirits, Sokka, no,” replied Suki. “Do you remember the last time we played?”

“Didn’t you and I end up not talking for like three days after?” Katara asked Suki, laughing. 

Suki nodded. “Never have I ever wanted to kill you as much as I did that day.”

“Well, then, get ready to do that again,” Sokka stated, leaving the room. 

“I’m with Sparky!” yelled Toph, making her way to Zuko. Zuko gave her an affectionate punch to the shoulder, which she gave right back to him. 

Sokka came back and dealt the cards and the game was on. The first phase, while supposed to be the easiest, took forever to complete because people had so many skips. By the time Suki phased out and got rid of her cards, only Katara and the team of Zuko and Toph could move on with her.

“Dammit!” yelled Sokka. “Not fair!”

“Told you this was a bad idea,” Suki chided him, gathering the cards again after everyone counted their points. 

They continued playing for about two hours, making jokes and continuing to eat the pizza that was left over. At around 9:30, Katara suggested a movie, and they all cuddled up on the floor and couch. Scrolling through Netflix, they decided on ‘Into the Spiderverse’; Katara found the audio visual for Toph, and they settled in. 

Though it was one of her favorite movies, Katara couldn’t watch. She kept finding herself watching Zuko; he had been quiet today, and while that’s not unusual, there was something off about it. He seemed sad, confused. Katara wasn’t really sure what.

Only an hour into the movie, Katara heard both Aang and Toph’s soft snores.

“Already?” Sokka observed, turning around to where Aang and Toph were laying on opposite ends of the couch. “Damn, it’s not even 11:00.”

“They both had track practice today,” Katara reminded him. “That could be it.”

Sokka shrugged and went back to watching the movie. Katara glanced back at Zuko, who was now on his phone. Katara felt a twinge of annoyance, and looked away. 

By the time the movie ended, both Sokka and Suki were asleep, despite the fact that they both said they were going to stay up all night earlier that day.

“Hey, Zuko?” Katara said. “Everyone else is asleep.”

Zuko looked up from his phone, which he had been looking at most of the movie. “Oh, sorry.”

Katara sighed and got up. She reached her hand out to Zuko, saying, “Come on.”

“Where are we going?” he asked her, confused. 

“To talk,” Katara stated. “Whatever’s bothering you is clearly taking up most of your thoughts.”

Zuko took Katara’s hand and stood up. Squeezing his hand, she led him quietly to her bedroom. When they got there, she motioned to the bed for him to sit, which he did. Katara sat crossed legged across from him.

“Okay, talk,” Katara said.

“Kat, you can’t just  _ make  _ me talk,” he told her, sighing a bit. 

“You said we could talk back at my place,” she reminded him. 

Zuko groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. “It’s stupid.”

“How do you know if you don’t tell me?” Katara replied. 

“It just… is,” he said again.

“Okay, fine,” she said, “you don’t have to tell me what’s bothering you specifically, but is there anything I can do to help?”

Zuko rubbed the back of his neck, looking at Katara. “Probably not.”

“Is it something your uncle can help with?” Katara asked.

At that, Zuko winced.

“Zuko, is Uncle Iroh okay?” she asked, concerned. If something happened to Iroh, wouldn’t he have said something?”

“Uncle Iroh’s fine!” Zuko assured her quickly. “It’s just… well, it’s about next year.”

“What about it?”

“Kat, literally  _ everything _ ,” Zuko stressed. “Everything about next year is worrying me.”

“Oh,” she replied. “Okay, well, start from the beginning.”

“I have no idea where I’m going next year, to start,” Zuko told her.

“I thought you already committed to a school?”

“I was going to, but…”

“But?”

Zuko sighed. “Once I turn eighteen, my dad is going to stop supporting me. Iroh was able to get him to pay some child support since he took me in, but that money is gone the second I’m an adult. My father  _ refuses  _ to pay for me to go college, especially since I want to go into something he doesn’t approve of.”

“He can do that?” Katara asked. She thought of her own father, who was taking extra hours and odd jobs here and there to help support Sokka and Katara’s college fund. Hakoda knew what his children wanted and supported them one hundred percent. Sokka and Katara also both knew they were tight on money, which is why Katara has a job and Sokka was constantly applying for scholarships and hoping colleges give him hockey scholarships (which few had). 

“He can and he will,” Zuko answered. “So, now, I’m not sure what to do. Iroh said he’d be willing to take out loans for me, but he already has to work with the shop, I can’t do that to him.”

“What other choices do you have?”

“There’s community college,” Zuko said, “which won’t be too bad. I can always get my two year degree there and move on to a four year program once I get enough money from working.”

“That’s not a bad option,” Katara replied.

“No, it’s not,” Zuko sighed. “But Iroh wants me to succeed. While I want to go to a four year college, live in a dorm, make new friends… I don’t want to put Uncle Iroh in a position where he can’t support himself.”

“How about you and Uncle Iroh make a list,” Katara suggested. Zuko looked at her confused. “No listen, list out the pros and cons of all options. Discuss with Iroh what you want and how you can get it. See what he wants to do.”

“That’s not a bad idea actually,” Zuko admitted. “I’d been afraid to talk to him about it. Every time he asked, I just avoided the topic.”

“Well, that won’t ease your stress,” Katara replied. “Is there anything else?”

“Now  _ this  _ one is stupid,” Zuko told her.

“Please don’t say that,” Katara said. “Your feelings are never stupid.”

“I’m worried about us,” Zuko stated. 

“Us? Why?”

“What if… what if I go away and you find someone else? What if I go away and we don’t see each other as often and we drift apart. What if we don’t like each other any more? What if-”

“Woah, woah, Zuko,” Katara interrupted, raising her hands and laughing a bit. “Zuko, calm down.”

“Kat, I think about this  _ all  _ the time,” Zuko told her, moving closer to her on the bed. “I can’t help but to wish I met you earlier.”

Katara smiled. She thought about that all the time. “I think about that too, Zuko.”

“Yeah, but… I know I told you not to compare us to Sokka and Suki, but I can’t help but to worry,” he continued. “What if, because we didn’t get enough time together, we just stop caring about each other?” 

“First of all, that will never happen,” Katara told him. “I care about you too much to stop.”

“Yeah?”

Katara nodded. “Well, yeah.”

“Okay, but… what if we don’t ever get to next steps?”

“Zuko, you need to be a bit more specific,” Katara said. “What steps? We’ve been making out for the past two months, I think we’re good there.”

Zuko blushed. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Zuko, what do you mean?”

“I… you know…” Zuko muttered. 

“You what?” Katara asked. 

“I… love you,” he finally stated, looking at her. 

Katara felt her heart stop. “Oh.”

“Oh?” Zuko repeated. 

“I mean, okay, well,” Katara stammered. She wasn’t ready to say ‘I love you’ yet. Well, she was, or she thought she was, but she didn’t think it would be  _ now. _

“Katara, I tell you I love you and you say ‘oh’?” Zuko asked, hurt written across his face.

“No, no, it’s not that!” Katara exclaimed. “I just… I don’t know.” 

“You don’t  _ know? _ ” he asked, now standing up off the bed and looked at her. “Katara, you don’t need to say it back, I just… I’m going to sleep. It’s been a long week. I need to think.”

“Wait, Zuko,” Katara said, now jumping off the bed and following him out of her room. “Zuko, that’s not what I meant.”

“Katara, it’s fine,” he whispered, trying not to wake the others. “Can we just forget I said it?”

_ Oh.  _ Katara felt a tear slide down her cheek. “If that’s what you want.” 

“Yeah, I think so,” he replied, grabbing a pillow and a blanket and finding a spot on the floor. “For now at least.”

“Okay, for now,” Katara replied. 

Zuko pat the spot next to him. Sighing, she got down and lay next to him. He had only grabbed one pillow, but the blanket was big enough for the two of them. He threw it over her as she tried to comfortably place her head next to Zuko’s on the pillow. She felt his arm slide over her hip as he pulled her to him. She felt his face burrow in her hair; she listened to his soft breathing.

Katara knew she loved him. She even told Gran Gran she did. But saying to his face? Katara never really knew why just  _ expected  _ him to know how she felt. She remembered what Gran Gran and Suki both told her: that she needed to be open and honest with Zuko, that she can’t leave him guessing. 

“I love you, too,” she whispered just enough for him to hear.

She felt a hot breath on her neck and a soft sigh. 

“I know,” he replied. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I take the last line from Star Wars? Yep. Do I regret it? Nope.  
> Do I think of Nick Miller every time I hear Peter B. Parker speak on Into the Spiderverse? Always.


	19. eyes closed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The seniors' last day of school approaches before they head off to internships. Katara reflects on her relationship with Zuko and her friends. How she wishes time could slow down.

The next week, Katara kept thinking about her conversation with Zuko. He said he loved her. She said he loved him. Was it really that easy? Was she really stressed about saying ‘the L word’ for no reason? Katara mentally kicked herself: she was a sixteen year old girl, love is a big deal. 

Since that night, Katara practically floated around school. No one in class noticed, of course, only her close friends. Even Toph, who couldn’t even  _ see  _ Katara, sensed the change in her. 

“Really, Sugar Queen, you’re in love and all of a sudden everything is rainbows and butterflies,” Toph told her once when she and Suki were over at Toph’s having a girls’ night. 

“You’ll understand when you’re in love, Toph,” Suki replied before Katara could even open her mouth. Suki’s reply earned her a swift pillow to the face. 

At this point, Katara didn’t even care about Azula anymore. Since that day in the hallway, when Azula had decided to tell Katara about their mother, she became cold and distant again, only hissing insults whenever Katara had to pass her in class. Mai and Ty Lee always shot her apologetic looks. 

“Hey, sorry about Azula, by the way,” Mai said one day after school, approaching Katara at her locker. “She’s just… I don’t really know, actually, but ever since Zuko stopped hanging out with us, she’s been antagonistic lately.”

“You have nothing to apologize for,” Katara said, looking at Mai. “It’s not your fault.”

Mai shrugged at that. “Maybe not, but still. You’re pretty cool.”

“Oh, thanks,” Katara replied, blinking. 

“No worries,” Mai said, giving Katara a rare smile. “As long as you’re both happy, right?”

“Right,” Katara agreed, returning the smile. 

And thus, April continued. Now that Katara’s work schedule was minimal, she was able to go to track meets to cheer on Toph and Aang. Toph was a shot put thrower, and one of the best on the team. Since she’s small in build and blind, opponents often underestimate her; they’re surprised when she kicks their asses. Aang, on the other hand, is skinny and lithe, usually walking on air. He’s a high jumper and hurdler, and sometimes will run a sprinting relay if needed. Katara, Zuko, Sokka, and Suki can be found in the stands, cheering for their friends as they compete. 

Sokka finally committed to a school: Omashu Tech, a school that specializes in STEM majors, which is exactly what Sokka wanted as he decided to major in mechanical engineering. Though he was unable to get a hockey scholarship, since the school only had a hockey club as opposed to a team, Sokka received a partial academic scholarship, which their father was over the moon about. Not only that, but Sokka was in talks about receiving a STEM scholarship from the school (the only reason he knew this was because his guidance counselor told him and informed him he needed to write an essay discussing his future plans). Omashu Tech was about two hours from where Katara’s family lived, which made her sad to think about Sokka leaving.

Suki, on the other hand, was going to a small liberal arts school in Gaoling, studying international studies just as she told them back in January. Gaoling was about an hour from Omashu Tech, which Sokka was extremely excited about. Suki made Katara promise she would come visit, which of course Katara agreed to. It helped that Zuko was also going to Gaoling, as he will be attending the same school as Suki. He and Iroh had finally sat down and discussed their options, figuring that the school in Gaoling was the most affordable, considering that Zuko received a substantial academic scholarship. He would be studying liberal arts with a concentration in education.

While Katara was happy for Sokka, Suki, and Zuko, she couldn’t help but feel sad at the thought of them leaving. She was also angry; they’re leaving her behind while they all go off on their next adventure in life, while she’s stuck in high school. Katara couldn’t even  _ think  _ about senior year without wanting to throw up. Having a brother a year ahead of you means going on college visits early, so at least Katara was ahead in that sense. She knew what she wanted to study, nursing, but she didn’t know  _ where. _ She used to scoff at Sokka when he was stressing out about college applications and writing college essays, but now? Now she wishes she was a freshman in high school again and she didn’t need to worry about college. Of course, she still had Aang and Toph, but they were the year below her, and she didn’t want to stress them out about college talk. 

Katara also began seeing Yangchen again, her therapist. When asked, she said it was helping, which was the truth. Still, seeing Yangchen just brought back memories of her mom, and those memories are why she went back to therapy in the first place. 

“Katara, you’re not to ‘get rid of your memories’, as you said,” Yangchen once explained, “only be able to get to a place where you are no longer sad thinking of them. Does this make sense?”

She said it did, though she was still confused. During one session, she voiced her fear that Zuko was the reason she was having nightmares again, which Yangchen quickly shot down.

“No, Katara, he is not the reason for your nightmares,” Yangchen replied, smiling softly. “I think your nightmares have to do with major changes occurring in your life: the end of junior year, your brother and friends leaving for college, a first boyfriend, and then starting your college applications. These are all changes you wish your mother was here for. You’re so nervous about what lies ahead, that you’re going back to the past.”

Katara had to admit, that seemed pretty reasonable. Then again, who was she to argue with a licensed therapist?

Though classes were only getting harder, and the seniors’ last day was approaching, Katara was starting to become excited. Everything for prom was figured out: her dress, her shoes, how she was going to style her hair, the flowers, Zuko’s tie, picture taking, and the limo. Zuko had offered to buy her ticket, but she refused. Katara had tip money she had been saving, she could pay for herself. With the last few weeks for seniors just a stretch ahead, the gang tried to spend as much time with each other as possible.

“We’ll still hang out in the summer right?” Aang asked one lunch, pushing his uneaten grilled cheese to the side. “Like, once you’ve graduated?”

“Spirits, Aang, do you think we’re going to graduate and then promptly forget about you?” Sokka asked him, reaching over the table to punch Aang’s arm. “Hell, no, little buddy. We’ve known you forever, there’s no way that can happen.”

“Okay,” Aang replied, perking up a bit. “That means I can call you about questions for Algebra II right?”

“Are you using me for my maths skills?” Sokka asked, pretending to be offended. “I do so much for this family, and for what!”

“Listen, Aang, if Sokka here won’t help, I will,” Zuko cut in. “Just because I’m studying liberal arts doesn’t mean I’ll forget math.”

“I sure will,” Suki replied, “math sucks.”

“Hell yeah, sister,” Toph replied, holding her hand up for Suki to high five. 

Katara looked around the table, her heart swelling with love. Each one of them had entered their group at different times, but they were still a family. She really was going to miss this.

“I know you’re sad we’re leaving soon,” Zuko said that same afternoon in study block, “but I really cannot wait to leave this place.”

“How come?” Katara asked, closing her Chromebook. She couldn’t even  _ think  _ about this AP Lang essay right now. 

“I mean, okay, it’s not that I won’t miss it,” he told her, “more that I’m just happy for a change, that’s all.”

Katara smiled at him. “You sound more confident now than you did three weeks ago.”

“I  _ feel  _ more confident,” Zuko admitted. “I finally know what I’m doing next year, Uncle Iroh is backing me no matter what, I was accepted for a work study so I’ll be able to make money when I’m away,  _ and  _ I have you.”

“What about me?” Katara blushed. 

“Just that I know how I feel about you, and how you feel about me,” Zuko explained, reaching over and giving her forearm, which was resting on the table, a squeeze. “There were so many ‘what ifs’ running through my mind, but now? Now they’re not.”

“I’m really happy for you, Zuko,” Katara replied, placing her hand on his still resting on her arm. “You deserve it.” 

Zuko smiled at her. “You deserve happiness too, Katara. I hope you know that.”

“I do,” Katara replied. 

Zuko stood up and leaned over to give her a quick kiss. “Love you.”

“Love you, too,” Katara said. 

Katara spent as much time in school with Zuko as she could, but before she knew it, it was May and the seniors’ last day of classes, and they were off to their two week senior internships. The building felt quiet without the seniors, and even worse, the lunch table felt like there was a massive hole in the middle. 

“I guess I never realized how much space they take up,” Aang said sadly on the second day of the senior’s absence, staring longingly at the empty chairs once occupied by Sokka, Suki, and Zuko. 

“I never realized how  _ loud  _ we were,” Toph emphasized, tilting her head to listen to the rest of the cafeteria. “We were really that obnoxious?”

“Toph, about three hundred kids are missing, of course it’s quiet,” Katara teased. “So, no, I don’t think we’re that obnoxious.”

Toph shook her head. “I dunno, Sugar Queen, it feels more quiet than that.” 

Katara didn’t know how to reply to that. 

Luckily, senior internships ended around the same time as school, so depending on the day, the gang would either meet at Starbucks when Katara was working or Iroh’s when Zuko was working. It was a nice set up they had, and Katara desperately wished she could slow down time or stop the clock entirely. 

She wished she could freeze time, to when they were all sitting in a booth at Iroh’s, Zuko’s arm thrown over her shoulder as he laughed at a stupid joke Sokka made, while Suki and Toph sat across the table from each other in an intense wrestling match that Aang was refereeing. For now, though, Katara took it all in, grateful she had the time now. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I think there might only be one or two chapters left... We'll see how it goes!   
> If anyone wants to suggest songs people go ham at during prom, please tell me! I already got one (and it's OLD because I am OLD), so I have NO IDEA what the kids listen to these days.


	20. 100 letters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The night everyone's been waiting for: prom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I looked over EVERY music suggestion I was given! I was trying to fit the mood, but I also slipped in a meta joke about myself in there because some of the music I chose was OLD (or like 100% shows my age aha).

“You guys are such a gross couple,” Suki said, scrolling through Instagram as she waited for Katara to finish her hair. 

“What do you mean?” Katara asked, putting the finishing touches on her hair. She had done it in a complicated top knot, with the bottom layer flowing past her shoulders. “Me and Zuko?”

“Ugh, yeah,” Suki replied. “This picture Zuko posted of the two of you at the park? Gross. I thought Sokka and I were bad.”

Katara felt herself blush as she made her way towards her desk chair, sitting it in front of Suki. Suki was going to be doing Katara’s makeup for prom; her own face was now completely done, as was her hair. 

“It was a sweet sentiment,” Katara told her, handing Suki the makeup kit. “Plus, we look adorable.”

Suki laughed, taking out one of her brushes. “I know, babe, I’m kidding. Now sit still.”

Katara kept completely still, moving her head when Suki told her to. It looked like Suki was doing deep reds for Katara’s eyelids, to match her dress.

“Are you using the same colors as you?” Katara asked. 

Suki nodded. “Hell yeah, this red works for both of us. Now stop talking.” 

Katara did as she was told. She thought of the picture Suki was referring to on Instagram. This past Sunday, two days before prom, she and Zuko went to the park to have a picnic. He was able to get a picture of the two of them, posing with the watermelon they were eating. They were both squinting because of the sun in their eyes. While Katara just posted the picture with a heart as the caption, Zuko’s caption was more sentimental. 

“ _ The best girl I’ve ever met  _ 💕” he had written. Katara still blushed when she thought about it. 

While she was extremely excited for tonight, Katara was also extremely nervous. Since prom was during the school’s senior week, it fell on a Tuesday evening. Katara still had to go to school the next day, but Hakoda offered the house for the night so Katara could still spend time with her friends. Sokka was currently getting ready in his room next door (Katara could hear him watching ‘Queer Eye’ without her, yet again). Suki’s parents were in the kitchen talking with Hakoda. Katara had been to plenty of school dances, but she never attended one with a date, much less a prom. She was behind Sokka, Suki, and Zuko in that regard considering all three went to junior prom, whereas Katara refused to go to hers. She couldn’t help but think how this night was supposed to go. 

“Okay, look,” Suki finally said, holding up a mirror. “What do you think?”

Suki, as usual, made Katara look amazing. Her features were highlighted gently, her eyes a smoky red to match her dress, and her lips a bold red to match. 

“Girl, I look hot,” Katara stated. 

“Hell yeah, you do!” Suki cheered. “Okay, now, do we get these dresses on?” 

“Let’s do this,” Katara replied, standing up. 

The two girls helped each other with their dresses, zippering zippers and adjusting straps. Grabbing their shoes, they sat down and strapped them on. Katara smoothed out the skirt, feeling the silk beneath her fingers. Looking at herself in the mirror, she tried to imagine seeing herself from her father’s point of view, or Zuko’s. Would they think she looks beautiful? Suki certainly did; her red eye shadow fit with the design of her green and black dress perfectly. 

“Okay, quick mirror selfie, and then let’s head out,” Suki suggested, grabbing her phone off the bed. As they took their photo, they heard Sokka’s bedroom door slam open. Suki smiled at Katara. “Sokka’s ready. Come on, girlie, let’s knock them dead.”

Linking their arms together, the two girls made their way out of Katara’s room and into the living room where everyone was now admiring Sokka. 

“We’re ready!” Suki stated. 

Sokka turned around, his face beaming at Suki. “You look amazing!” 

For once, Suki blushed. “Well, you know, thanks.”

“Pictures, please!” Hakoda said. “Sokka and Suki, you two first while we wait for the others.”

Katara hung back, watching as Sokka and Suki posed for their pictures. She was able to snag one of Suki putting Sokka’s flower on his coat, concentration written all over her face. 

A knock came at the door. 

“I’ll get it!” Katara stated, making her way to the door as quickly as her heels allowed her. Opening the door, Zuko stood there, Katara’s corsage in his hand, Iroh behind him with a camera. 

“Katara, you look amazing,” Zuko said, his eyes wide. “Like, really really beautiful.”

Katara blushed under her makeup. “You clean up well, yourself.” 

“Uh, you know,” replied Zuko, tugging at his collar a bit, “it’s all Uncle’s doing.”

“I worked very hard on his hair, Katara,” Iroh said sarcastically. As usual, Zuko’s hair was still shaggy, and it seems like Iroh didn’t try that hard at all.

“Well, come on in,” Katara said, moving to the side for Zuko and Iroh.

“Buddy!” Sokka yelled, jumping at Zuko. “Oh, man, they took  _ forever _ to get ready.”

“Excuse me,” Suki stated, “we could hear you getting ready and you took  _ just  _ as long.”

“Now, now,” said Suki’s mother, placing a hand on her shoulder, “you all look wonderful.”

“Can I get some pictures of Zuko and Katara, please?” Iroh asked, holding up his camera. 

“Yes, let’s do that,” Gran Gran cut in. 

Zuko and Katara now moved to get their pictures, exchanging their flowers while the parents snapped more pictures. Iroh absolutely loved every minute of picture taking, suggesting different poses and faces for the kids to make. Zuko was embarrassed, but looked happy nevertheless. 

They continued taking group pictures until Haru and Yue arrived, making the house full. 

“Damn, you look great, Yue,” Suki told her, eyeing her up and down. “The blue looks fantastic on you.”

Yue beamed. “Thanks!”

As pictures finally wrapped up, the limo arrived. Hugs were exchanged, warnings were given, and well wishes were said. 

Walking into the hall, Katara looked around at all of the neat decorations hung up. Streamers were hung on the ceiling, and tables were decorated with confetti. The DJ already had music playing. 

“Come on, let’s find our table,” Sokka said, looping his arm through Suki’s and leading the way.

“This is the most extra,” Zuko mumbled to Katara, making Katara laugh. “Do they think we’ve never been to a dance before?”

“Apparently not,” Katara said, smirking. “Sokka is  _ all  _ over Suki, though, look at them.”

“I mean, I’m all over you,” Zuko replied, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. 

The crew settled at their table, Katara in between Zuko and Suki. They made conversation as the tables around them filled up. Sokka, Suki, Zuko, and Haru all talked about their senior internships as Katara and Yue listened on, giving each other looks. Occasionally, Yue and Katara would stick their tongues out at each other from across the table, waiting for the others to notice. Suki took out her phone and began taking selfies and pictures of everyone. 

Once everyone was settled, the senior class president made a quick speech, then dinner was served. 

“Man, this is delicious,” Sokka stated, digging into his chicken.

“I see you haven’t changed a bit,” Yue giggled, earning her a middle finger from Sokka and a shared look from Suki. 

“Do you think they’re at least going to play  _ good  _ music?” Haru asked as  _ Baby  _ by Justin Bieber played in the background.

“Don’t insult the Biebs like that!” Yue replied, giving Haru a tiny smack on the shoulder. 

Katara and Zuko caught each other’s eyes, trying not to laugh. 

Finally, everyone slowly finished eating and began to make their way over to other tables to take more pictures. Just then, the DJ spoke up and The Killer’s  _ Mr. Brightside  _ blasted through the speakers. 

“YESSSSS, MY SOOOOOONG,” Sokka yelled, grabbing Suki by the end and pulling her out of her seat and onto the dance floor. 

“Want to join them?” Zuko asked Katara. He wasn’t usually one to make himself known, but she could tell he was excited.

Already getting up and grabbing his hand, she replied, “Yes!”

“JEALOUSY, TURNING SAINTS INTO THE SEA, SWIMMING THROUGH SICK LULLABIES, CHOKING ON YOUR ALIBIS,” Sokka screamed, twirling Suki around. 

Suki was laughing uncontrollably, dancing along with Sokka. Zuko and Katara joined them, singing along and laughing at Sokka. 

This was the most fun Katara’s had in weeks. At this moment, she let the stress of upcoming finals and projects slip away, forgot about her friends leaving her next year for college, discarded her fears of applying to colleges, and just let herself be a sixteen going on seventeen year old girl. She let Zuko twirl her on the dancefloor, and she sang along to songs with Suki. They danced the  _ Cha Cha Slide  _ and  _ The Cotton Eyed Joe _ . Not even an hour into dancing, Katara’s heels lay forgotten under her chair. 

Songs alternated between The Weeknd’s  _ Blinding Lights  _ and Ke$ha’s  _ Tik Tok.  _

“Do you think this DJ is a millennial?” Suki yelled over Cascada’s  _ Every Time We Touch.  _

Katara looked over at Sokka and Zuko, who were currently singing along very loudly. “Probably, but I think our boyfriends are loving it.” 

“All right, it’s time to slow things down in here,” The DJ said. “Find your dancing partner and get into the mood.” 

Zuko and Katara looked at each other as The Jonas Brothers’  _ Hesitate  _ began playing.

Zuko held out his hand. “May I?”

“You may,” Katara giggled, taking his hand. Tentatively, she placed her hands on his shoulders as he placed his hands on her waist, pulling her closer. 

“Thank you for coming with me, Katara,” he whispered in her ear. 

“You’re welcome, Zuko,” Katara replied, leaning her head on Zuko’s shoulder.

The rest of the night? Perfect. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs mentioned:   
> Baby: Justin Bieber   
> Mr. Brightside: The Killers (a whole BOP)  
> The Cha Cha Slide: DJ Casper   
> Cotton Eyed Joe: Rednex  
> Blinding Lights: The Weeknd  
> Tik Tok: Ke$ha   
> Every Time We Touch: Cascada (the song I had in my mind since the beginning)  
> Hesitate: The Jonas Brothers (aka, the MOST Zutara song. Originally I had When You Look Me in the Eyes, but this song? *chef's kiss*)
> 
> If you need other songs I danced to in middle/high school, I will happily give a playlist haha


	21. castle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Graduation, college move ins, heart to hearts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! The last chapter! Enjoy!

The Friday after prom, there was a day off from school since graduation was that night. Even though she had the chance to sleep in, Katara still woke up early. Deciding she didn’t want to just lay in bed, she got up and went to the kitchen. Grabbing a bowl of cereal, Katara decided to pull a Sokka, and watch ‘Queer Eye’ without him. 

Smirking, she sat down on the couch with her cereal, turning on the next episode. Seems like Zuko was awake too, since he was now texting her.

_ Z > why is it the only day I can sleep in, I’m awake _

_ K > haha me too, babe, no worries. How you feeling? _

_ Z > nervous for some reason. Is that weird? _

_ K > not weird at all! Completely normal if you ask me! _

_ K > it’ll be okay _

_ Z > Iroh will be there, so that’s good! Not sure about my dad and sister though…. _

_ K > do you even want them there? _

_ Z > I don’t really know honestly.  _

Katara sighed, placing her now empty cereal bowl on the coffee table.

_ K > it’s okay you don’t know. But if they’re not there, they’re missing out.  _

_ Z > thanks, Katara. You’re the best _

_ K > love you, babe. _

_ Z > love you too  _ ❤️

Katara smiled, texting Zuko as she continued watching ‘Queer Eye’. At one point, she forgot to answer Zuko, since Karamo was now having a deep heart to heart with the current hero and Katara was sobbing. 

At around 8:00, both Gran Gran and Hakoda’s bedroom doors opened, and Katara quickly wiped her tears. 

“Katara, what are you doing?” Hakoda asked, walking in the room and looking at Katara.

“Uh, watching ‘Queer Eye’,” Katara answered, pointing at the TV. When Hakoda smiled, Katara quickly said, “It’s emotional!”

“Did you eat?” Gran Gran called from the kitchen.

“Yep!” Katara called back. 

She continued watching as Gran Gran and Hakoda talked in the kitchen. 

About an hour later, Sokka walked in. “Hey, you’re watching ‘Queer Eye’ without me!”

“NOW YOU KNOW HOW I FEEL!” Katara yelled, standing up and pointing at him. 

“ON THIS DAY! OF MY HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION?!” Sokka yelled back, throwing his hands up. 

Hakoda stuck his head out of the kitchen. “If you two wolves are done?”

“Sorry, Dad,” they mumbled in unison. 

“Pause this,” Sokka said, walking towards the kitchen. “I saw this episode already, but you know what we’re doing for the next seven hours.”

“Deal.” Katara replied. 

Katara liked it, sitting with her brother, watching Netflix. In the middle of their third episode together, Katara realized that when Sokka leaves, there won’t be moments like this for a while.

“Hey, we’ll still talk when you’re gone, right?” Katara asked, looking at Sokka.

“Uh, duh, Katara, of course we’ll still talk,” replied Sokka, giving her a look. “Now shut up, Antoni is cooking.”

* * *

Around 5:30, Katara took a seat with her dad and Gran Gran on the school bleachers, a graduation pamphlet in her hand. Uncle Iroh sat next to her, Aang and Toph in front with Suki’s parents. 

“How long is this going to be?” Toph asked, propping her head on her hand. “I’m bored already.”

“Come on, Toph, be supportive,” Katara said, giving her a poke.

“We can just whisper about people we know,” Aang suggested. Toph beamed. 

Katara rolled her eyes just as she saw Mai and Ty Lee shuffling along the bleachers. She stood up, giving them a small wave. When Iroh saw who she was waving to, he gave the girls a smile and motioned for them to sit next to him.

“Hello, girls, how are you?” Iroh asked when they sat down.

“Great, thank you Uncle Iroh!” Ty Lee exclaimed. 

“Fine,” Mai replied, biting a nail. “Just wanted to see Zuko.”

“Azula?” Katara asked. 

Mai shook her head. “No, she’s ‘busy’. Won’t even see her own brother graduate, what a joke.” 

“And Ozai?” Iroh asked.

Mai shifted uncomfortably, but that was all Iroh needed. 

“Despicable. Both of them,” Iroh said, shaking his head. “They don’t know what they’re missing. He’s been working so hard.”

“Well, Iroh, Zuko has you,” Hakoda told him, “You’ve raised a fine boy.”

Iroh gave him a small smile. “As did you, Hakoda. And a wonderful daughter as well.”

Katara felt herself blush. 

Finally the ceremony started; Katara and Aang couldn’t help but giggle when Toph groaned loudly. 

They all followed along to the principal’s speech, senior class president, salutatorian, and valedictorian. Before calling out the names, the principal informed the audience to hold their applause until  _ after  _ all the names had been called. Of course, no one followed the rules. For Zuko, Sokka, and Suki, everyone cheered as loudly as they could. 

After posing with their diplomas, their parents, and friends, everyone headed back to Katara and Sokka’s for a cookout in the backyard. Hakoda grilled as everyone sat around chatting with each other. 

Katara and the rest of the crew sat around a table, all joking.

“Everything is going to be so different,” Aang stated, leaning back in his chair.

“What do you mean, Aang?” Sokka asked. “I mean, we have all summer.”

“Yeah, but you guys won’t be here next year,” Toph added. “Weird.”

“You guys will get used to it,” Suki told them. 

“I dunno, guys,” Toph replied, shrugging. “Maybe. Maybe not.”

“You have a phone, right, Toph?” Zuko asked. 

Toph nodded.

“Then there you go,” Zuko replied, clapping hands a bit. “Call us when you need to. It’s like we’re there.”

“What about lunch?” Toph asked. “No phones allowed during school hours.”

“Make new friends?” Zuko teased. 

“Easy for you to say!” Toph exclaimed, banging her hands on the table. 

Zuko laughed. “Okay, Toph, I’m sorry. We’ll all figure it out, don’t worry.”

“Better,” Toph replied. 

They sat there the rest of the night, occasionally an adult butting in to tell a funny story or ask a question. At one point, Sokka connected his phone to a speaker, blasting music. He and Suki stood up, dancing around the yard, others laughing.

“Come on, Toph,” Aang said, getting up and grabbing her hand, “let’s dance.”

“Twinkle toes, no!” Toph exclaimed, but still allowed Aang to drag her towards Sokka and Suki.

Katara and Zuko laughed as they watched their friends. 

“I mean it, you know,” Zuko said, looking at her and taking her hand in his. 

“What?” Katara asked. 

“That even though I’m gone, nothing will change,” Zuko replied. “You call me when you need to.”

“Oh, Zuko,” Katara said, leaning into him, her head now resting on his shoulder.

“We’ll be okay,” Zuko told her, his head resting on hers. “We’ll always be okay.”

“Yeah, I know we will,” Katara replied. 

* * *

The end of the year came quickly, Katara relieved it was finally summer vacation even though she was still going to be working. 

The gang spent as much time as they could together: beach trips, movie nights, cookouts, and even shopping for college. 

Though Zuko was absolutely nervous about moving to college, Katara could tell he was trying to hold in his excitement as well. She helped him and Iroh choose different lamps and even new clothes for him to take. At one point, she sat on her phone in the middle of Target as Zuko and Sokka argued about the right kind of shower caddy to bring and if they should bring more than one towel.

“Oh, please bring more than one towel!” Katara stated, tuning in at that part. “Guys, gross.”

“See?” Zuko exclaimed. “Your sister agrees.”

“I can just do laundry,” Sokka replied.

Katara slid her phone in her pocket, went over to the shelf, grabbed two towles, and shoved them into Sokka’s hands. 

“Two towels,” Katara told him. 

Thus was summer. 

Katara started writing her college essay, Zuko reading over it for her. Though they were both working, they made time for FaceTime dates. They also knew that they didn’t have to be attached at the hip, or talk to each other everyday. Katara thought doing so will make it easier for when he moves to school. 

Though it was hard saying goodbye to Sokka, Suki and Zuko, Katara found herself feeling excited for her friends’ new beginnings. 

Sokka moved first, Katara in the backseat as Hakoda drove into Omashu, the car packed with Sokka’s belongings. 

“You nervous, Sokka?” Hakoda askeg, eying Sokka from the corner of his eye.

Sokka was staring at the window. “I’m fine.”

Katara knew it was hard for Sokka to say goodbye to everyone. He kept it together for his friends and Suki, but when he said goodbye to Gran Gran that morning, he almost lost it. Katara had to promise him she wouldn’t tell anyone. 

Once everything was unpacked and Sokka met his roommate, a boy named Teo, he seemed eager for Hakoda and Katara to leave.

“Call after your first class!” Hakoda said as Sokka shuffled him out of his room.

“Text me everyday!” Katara stated.

“Yep, yep, okay, bye guys!” Sokka said. “I need to call Suki soon, so see ya!”

Back in the car, Hakoda and Katara laughed. Sokka will be okay.

When it was time for Suki and Zuko to leave, Katara wasn’t able to go with them. The night before, the remaining crew gathered at Iroh’s for one last time. 

“This time tomorrow, Zuko, we’re going to be college kids,” Suki said.

“Cheers,” Zuko stated, raising the soda can he was drinking.

When Suki, Toph and Aang left, Katara sat with Zuko outside, staring at the stars.

“You think she’s proud of me?” Zuko asked.

“Your mom?” Katara asked. Zuko nodded. “Yeah, I know she is.”

Zuko looked at her, a smile on his face. “I know your mom is too.”

“You’re an amazing guy, Zuko,” Katara told him. “You’re going to be an awesome teacher one day.”

“How about we just stay here for now?” Zuko suggested. “Here in the present.”

Katara laughed. “Yeah, here in the present.”

So they sat, in the present, staring at the stars together. They didn’t think about tomorrow, or the next day, or the next week, month, year. They just sat, enjoying each other’s quiet company. Nothing needed to be said between them, but Katara knew whatever life throws at them? They can handle it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading my 2nd ever multi chapter fic. I love writing every minute of it and I hope you enjoyed reading it! Love you all so much! :)
> 
> As a reminder, title of the work (Still Learning) and every chapter is named after a Halsey song.


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